


Scrawled Across My Arm

by Skyla_Schultz



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Evil Chemistry Teacher, Fluff and Angst, Hazel is 8, Hurt/Comfort, I don't think I'll write anything super explicit, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Kidnapping, M/M, More bad guy teachers than just the chem teacher..., More tags will be added as we go if necessary, Nico can cook, Not Beta Read, Panic Attacks, Poor Nico, Self-Harm, Slow Burn, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Will plays the guitar, past car crash, you get a sentence your soulmate said on your arm each day
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-06
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-05-03 06:47:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 21
Words: 109,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14563338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyla_Schultz/pseuds/Skyla_Schultz
Summary: This was not how Nico wanted to spend his Friday night. He just wanted to stay home and maybe watch movies with his best friend. He did not want to go to a high school party. But here he was. His stupid older cousin just had to drag him to one and leave him with the task to socialize.So Nico does. And well, that ended really well. (Don't we all love sarcasm)Will hated his Chemistry teacher with a deep passion. That was probably what led to him yelling at her in the middle of class. Now he had to convince his principle to not expel him. That would definitely not look good. Turns out that isn't hard and instead he gets tasked with showing the new kid around. So they become friends...and whoa! Wait. We're soulmates?





	1. Prologue: It Was Only One Sip

**Author's Note:**

> So this.  
> This chapter has a character who gets drugged and kidnapped, so proceed with caution if that could trigger you.  
> My work is not meant to harm anyone in the real world other than make them sad since this is angst...  
> This event is kinda the basis for the story so...proceed with caution  
> This is going to be angsty but I also love cute fluff so expect that as well!  
> I hope you all come on this adventure with me!

“Why?” Nico asks with a raised eyebrow. He stared up at the house in front of him. It was a big house, but not big enough to call a mansion. The front yard was neatly trimmed and there were flowers from every color of the rainbow lining the walkway. There were white stairs leading to a white front door. Columns on the side of the stairs wrapped with vines and flowers. The house was made of white plating and the roof was colored a dark grey.  
It was a beautiful house and you would imagine that the people inside would be fancy and posh. If that was the case, Nico might have hated it less. He was used to spending time with fancy rich people. His Dad dragged him to events like that when he felt like he needed to show the world that he existed. But Nico was used to fancy affairs. He knew exactly how much he needed to talk to get by. This however…  
He was not used to high school parties.

Unfortunately, that’s exactly where he was.

The noise inside was so loud that he could hear it from where he was in the driveway. This was not somewhere Nico usually spent his time.  
So why was he here?  
That could be explained by his annoying older cousin.

“It’ll be fun,” Percy responded with a smile.  
“Fun?” Nico repeated raising an eyebrow.

“Yes. Fun.”

Nico sighed. This would not be fun. There would be no way that this would be fun.

It was too loud and there were too many people. To top that off, all the people inside were even more stupid than usual because they were drunk.

“Can I stay in the car?” Nico grumbled.

This was not how he wanted to spend his Friday night. Valerie and him always had movie nights on Friday. Today they were going to watch Tangled, but that plan clearly changed when Percy practically dragged Nico to his car and drove off.

“No you can not stay in the car,” Percy scolded. “It’s a party. Socialize.”

“With a bunch of seniors who I’ve never talked to before and are now drunk. I’ll have great conversation with them.” Nico rolled his eyes.

Nico didn’t hate socializing per say. It more that he wasn’t very good at it. He always ended up saying something wrong and then there goes everything. The only people who really stuck around were his cousins Percy and Jason and his best friend Valerie. He had no idea how he managed to even do that.

“Sometimes talking to drunk people is fun,” Percy responded.

“I’m 14. Aren’t you supposed to tell me to not get drunk and do stupid, reckless things.”

“Ummm...hey look it’s Annabeth. I’ll see you later Nico!” Percy ran off with that towards the direction that he pointed to and disappeared into the crowd.

Nico sighed. He could just stay by the car. He really didn’t want to go into the house, but he decided that it would make Percy happy, so he took a deep breath and ran into the house before he changed his mind. He could look around for a bit and then come back outside to the car. Maybe he could even walk home if he tried. He wasn’t _that_ far away.

Once he opened the door, the sound instantly became louder. Nico frowned and looked around. There were multiple people making out right in front of the door. In the side room people were playing a game of cards that clearly went out of hand. He could see people dancing (if you could call it that) further down the house. Some people upstairs were yelling. One guy ran past yelling wearing nothing but his socks. Nico definitely didn’t need to see that.  
Nico walked further into the house towards the kitchen. There were multiple drinks stacked on the counters and some snacks. Nico decided to skip them. He had no desire to be an idiot because he lost his sense of being able to tell what’s stupid and what’s not.  
The living room was packed with people dancing and the DJ playing music so loud that you couldn’t actually hear the lyrics, just feel the beat. Not being a fan of crowded spaces he decided to see what’s on the second floor.  
There were people sitting on the ground in circles surrounded by bottles and cups of alcohol. The room also had people playing games like truth or dare or shot challenges and such. Not finding anything to do here either, Nico took the second set of stairs and headed back down to the ground floor. He ended up near the basement stairs, so he climbed down.  
Big mistake.  
There were more rooms in the basement. Only this time, the doors were all closed. He could also hear moans and groans coming from the closest room. He could feel his face heat up, and he dashed back up the stairs.  
He should have expected that. He did expect that. But it was still weird to actually encounter it. That was why some people came to high school parties. To do _it_ with someone who wasn’t your soulmate.  
Nico moved back to the kitchen deeming it the safest place in the house. It stunk, but it didn’t have a crazy amount of people filling the place and making weird sounds.

He claimed an empty counter for himself and pushed himself up to sit on it.

Now what was he supposed to do?

He pulled out his phone and texted Percy.

 

**10:24**

**I went around and explored the house**

**I am now bored**

**Why am I here?**

 

A response came in a few seconds later.

 

**10:24**

**Good**

**Now talk to someone**

 

Nico frowned. That’s not the answer he wanted. He didn’t want to force himself into a conversation that he had no part in. That would just make him annoying and have everyone else look at him confused. None of the people here wanted to talk to him.

 

**10:25**

**When are we leaving?**

 

Nico waited. And waited. And waited. After ten minutes, he decided that Percy wasn’t planning to respond. Maybe Nico shouldn’t have been so blunt. It was true that he didn’t want to be here. It was true that Percy knew that he didn’t want to be here. But he shouldn’t keep trying to get out of the situation. Percy thought that this was best for him. He was trying to help. If that’s what Percy thought, than he was probably right.

Nico should at least try to converse with someone. Maybe it’ll actually end well for once.

But who should Nico talk to. Should he walk around and listen to other people’s conversation until he found one that he could try to involve himself in? Or would that be weird? It would probably be weird, but how else do people get involved in conversations with strangers? He couldn’t start talking with them about something random he didn’t know about.

Nico was saved from his problem when someone else came to talk to him first. He was at least six feet and he was a good balance between skinny and muscular. His flaxen hair was styled on his head and moved away to show off his deep green eyes. He had a comforting smile and a dimple of his left cheek that just made his look even more trustworthy.

“Hey,” he said to Nico as he leaned up against the counter Nico was sitting on. His voice was soft and smooth, but loud enough to cut through the noise of the party.

“Hi,” Nico responded.

Why was this guy talking to him? Nico was pretty sure that this dude was probably popular. He fit in with what was normally considered good looking, and he emitted a confident aura.

Of course this guy could also be a total douche and that was why he was now talking to Nico.

“What’s your name?” The guy asked.

“Nico.”

The guy smiled at his answer. Or maybe he was just being nice. “That’s a nice name. It fits you. I’m Mark.”

What did he mean by saying that it fit him? Nico decided not to ask and just nodded at his answer. It was his turn to say something. What was he supposed to say? Asking Mark why he was talking to him didn’t seem like a good thing to ask, but he couldn’t ask Mark what his favorite color was since that would be weird. How did people do this so easily?

“You don’t look like a senior. What brought you here? It doesn’t look like you’re enjoying yourself,” Mark ended up asking.

Nico held in his sigh of relief. He could answer questions. That wasn’t hard. “My cousin Percy dragged me along with him.”

“Percy? Percy Jackson?”

Nico nods. Mark frowns for a second before smiling again.

Nico finds that odd. Does he not like Percy?

“Percy’s cool,” Mark says. “I didn’t know he had a cousin who lives close by.”

“Well, he does.”

Nico feels a tingling sensation on his arm at that moment. It takes Nico all the self control he has to not check what it says then and there. He knew that it would be rude to do that in the middle of conversation. He had some social skills.

“Have you drank anything yet?” Mark asks.

Nico shakes his head. He didn’t want to drink anything. The thought of knowing he wouldn’t be in control of himself scared Nico. Why would anyone want to lose control? Nico really couldn’t understand.

“I’ll get you a drink. You’ve probably never drank alcohol before. I’ll get you my favorite here.” Before Nico can tell him that he doesn’t want any, Mark runs further into the kitchen.

Nico sighs and turns away from him. He didn’t really care. No matter what Mark got, Nico would only take a single sip. That wouldn’t be enough for him to lose all his inhibitions.

Without waiting another moment, Nico pulled up his sleeve and read what it said.

 

_“I am 100% completely and utterly done!”_

 

Nico smiled. He wondered what kind of day his soulmate was having.

It made Nico happy knowing that there was someone out there who was destined to like him. That there was someone out there who got one line that Nico said that day. He always wondered what line his soulmate got. It sometimes made him watch what he said in case that was the line the person on the other end would receive. He didn’t want his soulmate hating him before they even met.

Nico knew he didn’t hate the person who’s quotes he got. It had only been a year and he already knew that his soulmate liked the color yellow, played baseball, had lots of siblings, had a musician as a mom, and liked telling corny jokes.

Nico was excited each night for a new quote. He always got his at 10:34 on the dot, and he knew his soulmate got one line from him at the same time. Was his soulmate as excited as he was when the line appeared? Nico hoped so. Nico hoped his soulmate didn’t already hate him. He really, really hoped.

“I’m back,” Mark said standing next to Nico where he was before. He held up a yellow plastic cup towards Nico. Nico hesitantly took it from his hand and looked into it. It was a reddish purple liquid and smelled sweet like something fruity.

“Drink it. Take a huge sip,” Mark prodded.

Nico didn’t particularly want to drink it. It definitely didn’t look like it tasted good. But Nico also knew that Mark would get off his case faster if he drank a sip, sp Nico nodded and quickly drowned a huge sip down his throat. It burned and tasted terrible. It was sweet in the beginning, but it also had a sharp bitter aftertaste. Nico hated bitter things.

“So?” Mark asked with an expectant smile.

Nico shrugs his shoulders. He didn’t want to tell Mark that it was disgusting. Mark looked too excited.

Instead, he sets the cup down on the counter and decides to ignore it. He doesn't want to drink anymore of that stuff. How do all these people go through cups of this?

“It was…”

Mark cuts him off, “Yeah it's pretty disgusting,” he says with a laugh.

“Then why do you drink it?”

“So you can just forget and do stupid shit.” Nico frowns. Why would people want to purposely turn off all their common sense and filters? Why would people want to do stupid shitl?

“I still don't get it,” Nico replies.

Mark laughs again. “Then I guess it's just not your thing. But you can mark this as one of your firsts. The first time you drank alcohol.”

First time Nico drank alcohol. First time Nico went to a high school party.

“An experience,” Nico replied.

Mark smiled at that. “Well, I'm going to go talk to my friend over there for a bit. I'll be right back. Don't move.” With that, Mark ran off.

Nico frowned. Did he do something wrong? Should he have talked more? But Mark did say that he was coming back? Was he actually coming back? Or did Mark get tired of him?

Nico shook his head.

It doesn't matter. Mark was some dude that Nico was never going to see again. It didn't matter if he enjoyed Nico's company or not.

Nico pulled out his phone from his pocket and texted Percy.

 

**10:56**

**I talked to some dude**

**And drank a sip of alcohol**

**It was disgusting**

**Why do people drink this?**

 

Nico started messing around with his phone. He had 37% of his battery left, but he didn’t want to just sit around and observe people. He would have had more battery if Percy had warned his ahead of time.

Actually, no. He probably would have ran to Valerie’s house immediately and hid.

Nico felt a sharp pain erupt in his head and he presses his index fingers against his forehead. There’s no way the alcohol started working after one sip. Or maybe it does. Nico had no idea.

 

**11:14**

**Is my head supposed to start hurting after a sip**

**Well, my sip was like a fourth of the cup**

**But is my head supposed to hurt a lot**

 

Nico tightened his grip on his phone. Water. In the movies people drink water. Nico jumped down from the counter he was perched on and the world started spinning.

Dizzy? Why was Nico dizzy?

His vision eventually focused and Nico moved to the sink. He grabbed a new plastic cup and filled it with water. He drowned the whole cup in one go.

His headache didn’t disappear. Instead, his stomach started feeling wrong.

 

**11:19**

**I don’t feel good**

**I’m all dizzy and nauseous**

**Something’s wrong**

 

Nico crouched down and sat down next to the sink.

What was wrong with him?

Did he get sick? That doesn’t make any sense. People can’t get sick that fast. Can they?

He didn’t know. He wasn’t a doctor.

Was it the alcohol? If that was the case, Nico really didn’t understand why people drank this stuff. It didn’t make him feel good at all.

His limbs were all jittery, and his head was pounding. His breathing was coming out fast and he felt like he was about to throw up.

There is no way that this was normal. No way.

 

**11:23**

**Percy**

**I feel bad**

**I don’t think this is normal**

**Somethings wrong**

**Idk**

**Help**

 

What was wrong with him? Was he dying? Was he going to die like this? Did someone slip poison into his drink?

“Woah Nico. There you are? Why are you here? Are you okay?”

Mark. Mark would help him. He would know if this is normal.

“I...I feel sick.”

Mark crouched down next to him. Nico couldn’t see him clearly. Is his vision messed up too? This is all just great. Absolutely wonderful.

“Sick? Like what?” Mark sounded worried. Clearly feeling sick was not normal after drinking.

“Headache. Dizzy. Nauseous. Pain. Blurry,” Nico forced out. Mark set a hand on Nico’s forehead.

“That isn’t normal. Maybe I should get you home. Or find Percy. Should I do that?” Mark sounded so nice. So worried.

Nico nodded his head. Nico trusted Mark. He didn’t know why. It was probably the pain. Nico barely trusted anyone. But pain made people do things that they wouldn’t normally do.

Mark helped Nico up and led him to his car. He opened the doors and had Nico sit inside. He strapped his seatbelt, and opened the window a bit. The cool air felt nice. Nico liked November weather. It was just the right amount of cold. It was great.

“I’m going to go find Percy and tell him what happened. I’ll be right back.”

Nico nodded. He didn’t think that he would be able to say anything. Mark patted his head and closed the car door. Nico tried to make himself comfortable.

It didn’t take long before he drifted off into unconsciousness.

 

*****

**11:47**

**Shit**

**Nico**

**I just saw it**

**Where are you**

**Are you okay**

 

**11:53**

**Youre scaring me**

**Nico**

**reply**

 

**12:02**

**I looked around the house**

**I can’t find you**

**Where are you?**

 

**12:14**

**NICO**

**Youre seriously scaring me**

**Where are you**

 

**12:28**

**Shit**

**Shit**

**Shit**

**Im sorry for forcing you to come**

**Please just say something**

 

**12:37**

**I’m going to call the police if you don’t say anything**

 

**12:44**

**Nico**

**What the hell**

 

**12:59**

**I called Valerie and your Dad**

**Neither of them know where you are**

**Fucking reply**

 

**1:16**

**I asked around**

**No one knows where you are**

**Reply**

**Somethig**

**Anything**

 

**1:38**

**Annabeth called the police**

**Said you were missing**

**Im scared**

**If this is a prank its not funny**

 

**2:06**

**The police said theyll look for you**

**You better be okay**

 

**2:44**

**Me and Annabeth are at the police station**

**They’re asking questions**

 

**3:28**

**They asked questions**

**The party got busted but they don’t seem to care**

**Hopefully they care about finding you**

 

**3:54**

**Annabeth is making me sleep**

**Said Im too stressed**

**Cant fight her**

 

**9:17**

**I slept for a long time**

**Still no messages**

**The police havent found you either**

**Please be okay**

 

**3:41**

**Still nothing**

 

**6:19**

**nico**

 

**8:57**

**Everyones worried**

**They think you got drugged**

 

**10:51**

**Im sorry**

**Im such an idiot**

 

**12:18**

**Please reply**

**It was my fault bianca died**

**I cant loose you too**

 

**9:34**

**They found your phone**

**Im sorry nico**

**Im so sorry**

**Please come back**

**please**

 

*****

 

Will liked keeping record of things. He took detailed notes for all his classes. He wrote all of his commitments down on his calendar. And most importantly, he had a notebook just for his soulmate.

When the first line showed up on his arm when he was 13, Will quickly grabbed a sheet of paper and wrote it down. Later, he bought a special journal just for his soulmate’s quotes. Will wrote each line down every night when it appeared at exactly 10:34.

Will found his soulmate interesting. The first ever line scrawled across Will’s arm was, “ _If I had to choose between this cupcake and you I would choose you and I love cupcakes.”_

Will had no idea what the context of that statement was, but it made him laugh whenever he saw it. As the days went by, Will learned more about his soulmate by writing down the words that appeared on his right arm.

For one, Will assumed that his soulmate was a complete nerd. He had too many fandom references and lines where his soulmate just talked about these things for them not to be.

Will also assumed that they liked art considering the line, “ _I drew a potato for art class and got an A, and I think I should be famous just for that.”_

But it also looked like his soulmate liked cooking since he seemed to mention making food a lot, _‘I tried making lasagna, and I don’t know what I did, but it’s purple and that’s not normal’.  And ‘You’ve had lemon cake, but have you had orange cake cause that’s what I just made and I think it’s great’._

Will used his journal and connected all the dots together to try to form a picture of who his soulmate would be. Will couldn’t wait to meet them. Will decided that he was happy about who his soulmate was after half a year. Will just hoped his soulmate liked him too.

 

On November 13, Will’s right arm became blank at 10:34 and he freaked out. His previous line from the day before, _“Can I stay in the car?”_ disappeared and his arm was completely blank. He immediately ran to his mom’s room.

She sat down with him at the computer and found that a soulmate’s arm is blank when their soulmate doesn’t say anything on that day. When they died, a black line showed up where the quotes used to be. Will was relieved that his soulmate wasn’t dead, but that just led to him trying to figure out what could possible cause his soulmate to not say anything.

Did he pass out? Was he in the hospital? Was he hurt? Is he dying? Did he get kidnapped? Is he gagged? Did something traumatic happen and now he’s gone mute?

His mom noticed him stressing out about it and told him to get some sleep. The only thing Will could do was wait and see if anything came across his arm the next day. Will sighed and tucked himself into bed.

When 10:34 came, Will didn’t know what to make of the line scrawled across his arm, but he could tell that it didn’t mean anything good.

_‘It was only one sip’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I had this idea...  
> And I usually like to write the whole story out before posting it, but I thought I'd try this and see how it goes  
> Even though it's not pre-written, I'll try not to have months go by without a chapter  
> But you know...life  
> Thank you all for reading!  
> Leave comments and/or kudos if you enjoyed!  
> I love comments and constructive criticism  
> I hope you all stay safe where ever you are!


	2. Saying That Will Doesn't Like His Chemistry Teacher is An Understatement

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just in case it's confusing otherwise, this chapter takes place almost a year after the prologue (last chapter)  
> It was November last Chapter and now it is October the following year (it's stated but it's pretty easy to miss and forget)  
> I hope you all enjoy!

Will knew he shouldn’t have done it. Will knew he was going to regret it the moment the words started coming out of his mouth. Will knew that he should have shut up as soon as the teacher looked at him like her eyes were practically blaring. He should have stopped when the rest of the class gasped or went “ooohhh”.

But he didn’t. And that’s what landed him at the principal's office at 11:54 on a Wednesday. His teacher was currently inside talking to the principal since they were supposed to be having lunch.

Will sighed and shuffled in his seat. Will was annoyed that he was in the principal’s office, and he knew that he probably should have stopped talking, but he didn’t regret a word that came out of his mouth. He just hoped that his soulmate wouldn’t think less of him if he got a few choice words on his arm. But then again, Will knew that whatever could end up on their arm could never be compared to the strange and worrying things on his.

The teacher eventually came out of the principal’s office fuming, and Will’s anger appeared again. The principal sighed behind her and motioned for Will to follow her into her office. Will got up from the seat and followed her.

The principal, Ms. Lowen, sat down in her chair, and Will sat down in the seat on the opposite side of her desk. Now that he was actually sitting in front of the principal, he was nervous. He had never gotten in trouble like this before. What will his Mom say? What if he gets expelled? They won’t expel him for something like this right? Will can’t be expelled! He had a clean record!

The principal sighed in front of him. “So Dr. Fig told me that you said some...choice things to her in the middle of class. In the middle of a test no less.”

Will laughed nervously. He was finally starting to see how stupid he actually was. “Umm...yes? But I can explain.”

“I would think. You’re a good student Will. I have to say that I am shocked.”

The room went silent and the principal waved her arm at Will for him to continue.

“You see…” Will sighed. “Someone had to do it.”

Well that was blunt. Good job Will.

The principal raised an eyebrow. Will continued.

“She’s a terrible teacher and someone needed to get her off her high horse. It’s only the beginning of October, and I’m already tired of her. Every single day she goes around telling everyone that they’re an idiot for not knowing the material that she so “generously” taught us. That’s funny since I don’t remember her teaching us a single thing all year!”

Will was on a roll now. All of his previous emotions were coming back and he couldn’t control them. “You know what made me finally snap? She started yelling at Mitch for not coming to class for a week. She told him that he was a failure and better off dead! And you know why Mitch was absent? He was in the hospital getting his appendix removed! How am I supposed to sit down silently after that? So yeah. I called her a bitch and a bunch of other nasty things, but she completely deserved it.”

Will was breathing a bit heavily at the end of his speech, but it definitely got something off his chest. He definitely felt better.

The principal had a frown on her face, and now that all of Will’s anger was gone, his heart started pounding and his hands got jittery. His anxiety went away when the Ms. Lowen hissed, “She did what?”

“She uhh..she yelled at Mitch.”

The principal closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against her arms that were leaning on the desk. “I knew she was trouble, but really?” She sighed. “This is serious Will,” she said gravely. “I won’t allow this kind of behavior in this school. I will talk to the other students in your class to see if they match your story. If they do, she will definitely be fired.”

“Really?” Will could feel his chest become lighter in joy. He got the evil Chemistry teacher fired. Now she’ll never yell at her students ever again. She certainly still won’t be teaching though.

“However, you’re not off the hook,” Ms. Lowen continued.

Will visibly drooped. He was still going to get expelled. He was never going to get into college. And then he’d never get in medical school. His life was over.

The principal gave him a warm smile. That’s not right.

“In all honestly, I was actually going to ask you to do this task anyways, but since we need a cover for our investigations, we can pretend it was your punishment.”

So Will wasn’t getting expelled?

“So there’s a new student coming to our school tomorrow. He’s ummm..he’s a good person, but he could need some help getting adjusted. I was going to ask you to help him. Just make sure everything is going alright.”

Helping a new student? That doesn’t sound like punishment. That sounds like fun. Will would be able to make a new friend. And even if he didn’t he would still be helping the new boy. Will loved helping people out.

“I would love to do that Ms. Lowen,” Will replied.

She smiled. “That’s wonderful. You can come in and meet him here tomorrow morning. Come in around 7:45, so you can show him around a bit before school starts.”

Will nodded and internally sighed in relief. He would not be getting expelled today.

 

Will asked his Mom to drop him off early the next day, and she happily obliged. Will reached the school at 7:40 and was at the main office by 7:43. When he got there, he saw the school secretary, Ms. Lansing, talking to a tall man in a suit.

Ms. Lansing had her strawberry blonde hair up in a ponytail as usual and her green eyes were sparkling in excitement like always. She had her signature smile on her face and the dimples on both of her cheeks were showing. Her freckles were shining just like the rest of her. It was always nice to see her. She was definitely one of the better adults on school grounds.

The man who she was talking to, however, Will didn’t recognize. He also looked like the complete opposite of Ms. Lansing. He was at least 6 feet tall, and he was wearing an all black suit that completely contrasted his pale skin. His hair was cut, prim and proper and was a black and silky. His eyes were so dark that Will felt like looking him in the eyes would be like him staring into your soul. Will was a bit wary.

What Will was mainly focusing on, however, was the boy who looked around his age who was sitting in a chair next to the two adults. He had his heads down, so Will couldn’t see him clearly, but what he could see didn’t scream ‘ complete jackass’, so Will was relieved. His hair was dark just like the man, but the boy’s skin had more color. He was also wearing more color. Not much, but the purple jacket and red converse along with his black jeans and black and red shirt were definitely better than the dark abyss his father created. He also seemed much more anxious than his father’s completely serious demeanor. He was swinging his legs and wringing his wrists while he waited.

Ms. Lansing noticed him from the corner of her eye and waved him over with an even bigger, or maybe relieved, smile. Will walked over to her with one of his own.

“This is Will. He’s a wonderful student and a wonderful person. I’m sure he’ll show Nico around.”

Will nodded his head. So the boy’s name was Nico. Will should have probably asked that question beforehand, but his relief over not getting expelled clouded his thoughts.

“It’s nice to meet you,” he greeted.

“Likewise,” the man responded with a nod.

“We have everything taken care of Mr. Di Angelo. You have absolutely nothing to worry about,” Ms. Lansing added. It looked like she really wanted him to leave. Will wondered what their earlier conversation was about.

“If you’re sure,” the man...no...Mr Di Angelo hesitated.

“I am. I understand your worry, but I’m sure everything will be okay. Will here will help him, and he can call you if anything happens. All of his teachers have also been informed.”

Informed? Informed of what? Is this why he needs help adjusting? Will didn’t question it before, but now he was curious. He thought it was just his principal being nice. Now that he was seeing that worry of Mr. Di Angelo’s face he began to think it was something else.

“I am sure,” Ms. Lansing asserted.

Mr. Di Angelo sighed but nodded. “I guess I will be taking my leave then.” He turned towards Nico.

“If anything happens, call me okay. Jason will pick you up after school. I’ll see you tonight.”

Will was a bit amazed. Mr. Di Angelo still had a serious tone, but his eyes were no longer hard and scary. Instead, there was care and love and Will couldn’t help but smile. He may not seem pleasant, but he definitely cared about his son.

Nico simply nodded without looking up. His father also nodded and left the main office with a final wave.

Ms. Lansing sighed. “Your father is scary Nico. I didn’t know how long I was going to last.”

Nico shrugged. Ms. Lansing turned towards Will with the smile still on her face.

“Alright, so Will this is Nico. Nico this is Will. You’re both in the same grade, and I checked and you even have a few classes together. Which is great.”

Nico finally looked up. His eyes were just as dark as his dad’s, but instead of the dark look his father had, Nico’s eyes seemed more...empty?  His bangs also reached just above his eyes, so Will started thinking he needed a haircut. That was until he barely noticed a scar on his forehead he was probably trying to cover. He also had a small scar underneath his left eye and one below the right side of his lip. These were much smaller and much less noticeable though. Will could only see them because he was standing so close.  

Ms. Lansing continued as if nothing happened. “So Will will show you around the school and then take you to your first class. You have the same first block today, so you can go together.”

Nico nodded and stood up from his chair. He was a shorter than Will by three or four inches, but he wasn't short. More like Will was tall. He didn’t start staring at the ground again either, so Will viewed it as a success.

“Alrighty!” Ms. Lansing said clapping her hands. “I’ll leave you two. Tell me if there are any problems.” With that she turned towards her office and left the main area. The only people in the room were now Will, Nico, and the main office worker Mr. Mills.

“I’ll show you around,” Will said. Might as well start there. Nico didn’t seem like much of a talker.

“Alright,” Nico whispered before swinging his black backpack with a tiny dancing skull over his shoulders. Will was more focused on the fact that he spoke than his backpack though. Nico's voice was smooth? Will didn't know. He also had a bit of an accent. Will wasn't sure what. Italian maybe. It was barely there, but it was noticeable when he whispered.

Will smiled wider since he was able to make him talk and led him out the main office.

“So if you go straight,” Will said pointing, “you're in the A hallway. That's where most of the business and computer related classes are taught.”

Will turned to the left and Nico quietly followed behind him. “This is the B Hallway. This is where the history and social studies like psych and antro are.”

They pass a group of students talking by the stairs. It seemed to Will that they were talking about some party that was happening this weekend. Will could see Nico visibly tense next to him, and he decided to quickly lead him away from the group.

Maybe he was shy.

“Ummm...this is the C hallway. There's a mixture of history and math classes here. The history ones being closer to the B hallway and the Math ones being closer to the D hallway.”

Will led to Nico through the halls. And listed off where everything is. The trip mostly consisted of Will telling him where things were and the occasional comment. A few comments made Nico's lips curve slightly upward, and Will always gave himself a mental pat on the back.

When Will finally led him to their first class, Will could tell that Nico had loosened up around him a bit. but he still had a wall that would take some effort to tear down. Will didn't mind. It was strange, but it was like there was some force that was pulling him towards Nico. Of course, Will could so be imagining everything. What does he know?

  
That night at 10:34 Will checked his arm and the word _'Alright’_ was scrawled across it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Will and Nico meet.  
> The Chemistry teacher is actually based off of my own. She was terrible. She kept telling me I was a terrible student even though I had a B in her class and As in all my other classes. This happened two years ago, and I'm still bitter. She still glares at me when I see her in the halls.  
> But I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!  
> Please leave comments and/or kudos if you did! Thank you to all of you who did last chapter!  
> Constructive Criticism is appreciated! If you have any suggestion, then don't hesitate to comment them!  
> I hope you all have a great day/night where ever you are!


	3. Nico Just Really Wants to Fight Someone

Will sees Nico again the next day during first block PE.

Will wasn’t a big fan of PE. He liked playing sports with people for fun sometimes, but he did not like running a mile around on the track. Luckily, it was October and too cold to go outside in just their PE clothes, so they stayed inside for class. That meant less running. They only had PE for the first semester, so Will was happy that he would no longer have to go outside and run for any class ever again. The first quarter was hell. Especially since it was in the morning.

Their teacher, Coach Hedge, wasn’t there yet, so Will sat down next to Nico on the ground.

“Hey!” He greeted cheerfully.

Nico flinched in surprise and looked towards Will with a panicked look before calming down. “Hi,” he mumbled in reply.

“Did everything go alright yesterday?”

“It was fine.”

Will was surprised. Nico actually used words to respond to him instead of just nodding. A smile came to his face. Will didn’t know what, but he did something right. He decided to keep the conversation going.

“Yesterday, my mom tried to make spaghetti, but she ended up making some weird form of mush. It still tasted like spaghetti though.”

“How did she screw up spaghetti?”

He’s actually talking to him. Nico was actually talking to him. He was saying more than one word. It seemed to Will that Nico was just shy when they first met, and he was now opening up.

“I don’t know,” Will responded. “It’s never happened before. But I mean, it’s my Mom. When I was eight, my Mom and I heard this Boom sound in the kitchen. My Mom grabbed a baseball bat and ran to kitchen only to find that she forgot about the boiled eggs, and they exploded when all the water evaporated. We spent the entire afternoon cleaning egg off everything.”

A small chuckle comes out of Nico’s mouth, and he quickly turned away.

“And there was another time when my Mom accidently grabbed the salt box instead of the sugar one when she was making cake.”

“Poor cake,” Nico replied between chuckles.

“And one time my Mom was using a pressure cooker and she opened it up without letting the gas come out. She burned her entire wrist. The food was fine though.”

“Your Mom isn’t the best cook?”

“That’s the problem. She can cook perfectly fine. She just messes up a lot.”

The bell rang before Nico could respond, and Coach Hedge walked into the gym with his usual baseball bat and red cap. He’s a short man, but he’s five feet of pure rage. Will wondered why he was a 10th grade gym teacher instead of drill sergeant.

“Alright Cupcakes! It’s raining outside, so we’ll have to stay in here!” He yelled from the front. “But I’ve decided that since we have to stay inside for the rest of the semester anyways, we should do something useful instead of  just throwing a ball in a hoop and running a few laps.”

It wasn’t a few. It was like fifty. Will did not want to know how many Coach Hedge thought were a lot.

“So starting today,” he continued, “We’re going to play dodgeball.”

“Isn’t that illegal?” Nico whispered.

“Noooo….?” Will answered.

He wished though. He hated dodgeball. He was great at throwing them at people, but he couldn’t dodge a ball no matter how hard he tried. He was always one of the first people out.

“Oh.” Nico frowned.

“So go get changed or something! Don’t take too long!” Coach yelled.  

Everyone got up with a sigh and headed towards the locker rooms.

Nico got up and Coach Hedge focused in on him. “Except you. You come with me.”

Nico sighed and walked towards him without complaint.

 

When Will got back to the gym in his PE uniform, a gray t-shirt and dark blue shorts, he immediately saw Nico standing next to Coach’s makeshift desk. No one else was back yet, so the gym was empty other than him, Nico, and Hedge. Will began to slowly walk to the front of the gym where everyone was supposed to sit down and wait. A few seconds later the door opened behind him, so he turned and saw another group of students entering. He sighed in relief. He did not want to interrupt Nico and Coach Hedge by being the first one back. That would have been awkward.  

Coach Hedge ended up looking up and handing Nico a pair of keys. Will doesn’t hear what he said other than ‘closest’ and ‘box’, but Nico immediately took the keys and headed out of the gym. Will was confused about what was happening, but he couldn’t ask anyone, so he just sat down.

The coach looked at everyone for a second before he yelled, “What are you doing. Run! Run! 30 laps! Right now! Go!”

Everyone groaned, but they got up and started to make slow laps around the gym.

“Faster!” Hedge yelled.

Everyone picked up their pace.

Nico soon came back in holding a box of about ten colorful foam balls. Nico brought them to the Coach, and Hedge points to the middle of the gym. Nico seemed to be confused by what he said, but he proceeded to go to the center of the gym and dump all of the balls onto the floor.

Will wasn’t sure why Nico was confused, but that could have been explained by his question of whether or not playing dodgeball was illegal. Will really didn’t know where that came from.  

“Who’s the new kid?” A girl who’s in front of Will asked. Two other students, a boy and a girl, are running next to her. Will has no idea what her name was.

“I don’t know. Coach never says our names,” The boy next to her replied. Will thinks his name is Tony. He doesn’t keep track of the people in his PE class. Probably because Hedge never says their names.

“I doubt he even knows our names,” the first girl replied. “He asks if anyone is absent instead of just looking around when we’re sitting..”

“He’s cute,” The other girl said, Lily?

“Coach Hedge? He’s like 40. And he has a wife and kid,” Tony said between laughs.

“No. Ew. I’m talking about the new kid.”

“Oh. That makes more sense. Well, maybe he’s your soulmate, and you can tell him that everyday.”

Lily blushed and punched Mark in the arm before running faster and away from them.

Will looked down to the word ‘Alright’ on his right arm. He had been wondering about his soulmate for a while. In the beginning, he was excited to see into the life of someone who he knew was going to be important to him. He loved learning about his soulmate line by line. He learned that his soulmate loved cupcakes and that they hated thunderstorms and they were interested in space. Well, that was before. Will split his period of time of his marks into the before and after.

Will got his soulmark in March when he was thirteen. He didn’t know at the time because he was asleep, but it showed up on his arm at 10:34. From the point to November 13th was the before. That was back when Will was happy to see a new line because each line let him into his soulmate’s life and made him happy.

But on November 13th at 10:34, Will’s arm was completely blank. From that point on Will’s arm was either empty or had words that worried Will instead of making him happy. There were also the days where Will got one word phrases on his arm such as today.

This period was the after.

Will didn’t know for sure what happened to his soulmate. He could guess based on what he knew, but he was mainly left in the dark. But he knew that whoever his soulmate was, they were hurting, and Will hated it. As soon as Will met his soulmate, he was planning to wrap them into the a hug and squeeze them (as long as they were okay with it of course).

Will turns back towards Nico. He’s standing next to Coach again, and this time Coach was piling paper in his hand and telling him something, and Nico was nodding. The Coach told them to stop running a few moments later.

“Alright cupcakes!” He shouted. “Half of you go on one side and the other half of you go on the other! And it better be half!”

Will decided to stay in the half of the gym that he was already in. He could see Nico walk near the edge of the gym and stop half way through.

“Good! Now I’m going to grade these projects that the other class did in health. Nico, here,” he pointed at him, “Will watch to make sure you guys don’t do anything stupid. If you think someone is cheating, go to him. Start when he blows the whistle.” Coach waved his hand dismissively and started working on grading.

Nico looks at both sides of the room hesitantly before he blew into a blue whistle in his hand. Half of the students ran into the middle to pick up a ball while the other half, including Will, stayed back and waited for things to start...or end. Most of that half was probably waiting for class to end. Will was part of that group. He was hoping that someone would throw a ball at him soon.

He didn't expect a red ball to the face. It might have been made of foam, but damn did it hurt. Force equals mass times acceleration and that ball had a lot of acceleration...and force.

He heard a whistle in the background and some other students ran up to him.

“You should go to the bathroom and get cleaned up,” one student said.

“Clean up?” Will asked.

“You're nose is bleeding.”

Will touched his nose and winced. His fingers came back red. “Yeah...I’ll clean up.”

Will walked out of the gym and headed to the boys bathroom across the hall. Now that he was looking at himself in the mirror, he noticed just how much he was bleeding. His shirt already had drops of blood on it and his face was covered in red.  

That was bad. He never got a bloody nose himself before. He cleaned up other people's but not his own.

It should be the same thing though, right? Will hoped.  

It took almost ten minutes, but he finally got his nose to stop bleeding.

His nose also hurt less, so success. He was practically a magical healer.

He walked back to the gym and headed inside. He was immediately met with people cheering and Nico suddenly playing.

“What happened?” Will asked the girl next to him. Asley? Casey?

“Nico said that Sherman was out since slamming you in the face was a penalty. Sherman was mad and started arguing. At some point Nico challenged the entire class against just him and Coach Hedge started judging. The game has been going on for ten minutes and half the class is already out! This is so cool!”

Will looked back at the game. Nico was practically zooming everywhere and throwing balls just as fast. It was surprising. He definitely didn't look athletically talented.

In the end, only Nico and Sherman were left. The two of them went back and forth for almost five minutes before Nico got a lucky shot and Sherman was out.

The entire class erupted into cheers and applause. This was probably the most exciting thing that happened to them this week...month.

The bell rang. Everyone froze before they all ran to the locker rooms. They were going to be late to their next class.

 

Will saw Nico again in his next class, Algebra II. The teacher was whispering to him again and Nico was just nodding along. Will took his seat and watched them trying to figure out what the teacher was saying. He shouldn't have been doing that. Eavesdropping was never good. But then again, Will could neither hear them or lip read, so his efforts were for naught.

It only took a few more seconds before their teacher wavef Nico off. He came over and sat down next to Will.

“Hey,” he mumbled.

“Hey. That was super cool!”

Nico shrugged and started playing with his pencil.

Will started to think that the conversation is over, but Nico surprised him by replying. “In New York, it's illegal to play dodgeball. We always played this game called pinball instead. The aim was to knock down the other team's pins, but if you hit a person it would still count. It was practically dodgeball.”

Will stared at Nico for a few seconds. That was the longest he had heard him talk. He was opening up to him. It really seemed like he _was_ just shy in the beginning.

“Got to get around the school rules.”

“I guess,” Nico's expression darkened. “Not that the school really cares about rules otherwise. Just dodgeball.”

Will did not like that look on Nico's, face so he decided to drop the issue.

“Why'd you move here?” Will asked.

Nico doesn’t respond for a few seconds. “Stuff happened. Change of scenery,” he finally grumbled.

The bell rang and the teacher began his lesson, so Will wasn’t able to ask Nico what that meant.

 

Next was lunch. Will always had lunch with his friends Lou Ellen and Cecil. This time he was going to drag Nico along with him. They find Lou Ellen and Cecil at their usual spot in the courtyard. He sat down in front of them with Nico hesitantly taking a seat next to him.

He pointed at Lou Ellen, “This is my friend Lou Ellen. She's a witch.” He points at Cecil. “This is my friend Cecil. He likes pulling pranks.”

He looked towards Lou Ellen and Cecil. “This is Nico. He's new.”

“Sup!” Cecil waved. He then immediately turned towards Will. “I had an idea for another prank. Stacey Lockwood stole my cookie this morning. So I plan to make her a cookie that tastes absolutely terrible. It'll be great. Maddie already agreed to help. We’ll make the most disgusting cookie ever with our combined skills of cooking and pranking.”

“Get it on video. I hate that bitch,” Lou Ellen added.

Will shook his head. “Make sure you don't get in trouble.” .

Cecil smiled. “Speaking of getting in trouble. What was your punishment for yelling at Dr. Fig?”

Will could feel his face heat up. He had almost forgotten that had happened. Wait…

“I have her after lunch! I forgot! Oh no. She's going to passive aggressively insult me the entire class.”

Cecil and Lou Ellen both started laughing. Nico stares at Will in confusion.

“What did you do?” He asked.

Will sighed. “I yelled at her during class. We were having a test that day so she told us we would have class and then lunch instead, so I missed lunch while sitting in the principal's office. She actually agreed with me though.”

“The principal did?” Cecil asked.

Will noded.

“Oh this is good. That means everyone in this school and the principal hates her. Serves her right though.”

Nico started pulling at his sleeves and slowly munched at his pretzels. Is that all he brought for lunch? Pretzels?

“Yeah. And I didn’t even get to finish the test.  But she'll probably give me a zero on it just because she’s mad.”

“Retake. She can't deprive you of that and she can't give you a zero if you get it right. You can take that complaint to Mr. Rivers and he's awesome so he'll make her change it. You'll be fine,” Lou Ellen assured.  

“I'm more scared for today. She's totally going to give a lecture about what happened.”

 

And she did.

Unlike the first two teachers of the day, when Nico came in to talk to her the teacher just told him that she knew and that he needed to sit down. Nico sat down next to him.

“She's definitely mad,” he commented.  

Will groaned. This was not going to be a good class.

He started reminding himself that it was for the best and soon she won’t be at this school.

When the bell rang, Dr. Fig immediately stood up and walked to the front of the room. “There are many things I need to discuss today, so no talking from you,” she said in her Romanian accent. She gave all Romanians a bad name.

“So last class we had a disturbance in the class,” she gave Will a pointed look. Will slouched down further in his seat. This was going to be a long class.

“This was entirely disrespectful. I decided to become a teacher to educate the future generations, and this student comes along and says that I'm a terrible teacher and person. I decided to become a teacher because I genuinely wanted to teach and you are trying to say that this decision wasn't noble. Is there any teacher in the world who doesn't genuinely care about their students?”

“Yes,” Nico muttered.  Will should have probably given Nico the memo that you don't actually answer her questions honestly unless you want to die. He probably should have also given him the memo that she also has very good hearing.

Dr. Fig slowly turned towards Nico with a fierce glare.

“Really? Why don't you explain?” She asked.

Will gently tapped Nico's hand and shook his head. Nico either didn't notice or he didn't care.

“Where should I start? With the ones who grab their students and throw them out of class? Or the ones that purposely fail them just to stress them out? Or the ones who yell at them for no reason? Or the ones who beat their students up? Or the ones who rape them? Or the ones who tell one of their students to commit suicide? Or…”

Dr. Fig cut him off at that. Apparently that one struck too close to home.

“Do you think I fit into any of these categories?”

“I've been here for five minutes. I don't know. I was just answering your question.”

Apparently Nico's initial shyness had turned into rage. Yesterday, he didn't say anything and now he was challenging everyone to dodgeball games and sassing a teacher. An evil teacher.

Dr. Fig pursed her lips at Nico's words and turned away.

“Alright. There are many teachers who aren't noble. But this students anger was entirely unjustified.”

Unjustified? Right.

“No students should ever yell at a teacher like that. No student. And in the middle of a test. What is this behavior? The other students are taking a test and this one decides to start yelling for no reason. This is not acceptable in this classroom, this school, or this country. This student was being the example of terrible. No respect. There couldn't have been a worse way this student could have attacked me could there?”

“He could have stabbed you.”

Nico really wanted to get on this teachers bad side. Or he had a death wish. Will couldn’t think of any other options.

“I would have been less hurt if he stabbed me. Mental pain is always worse than physical. And I was mentally hurt.”

Will could see Nico rolling his eyes.

“I did not expect this behavior from this student. This student was always nice and respectful and got good grades. But then he burst, and I can't understand why. I can't understand what made this student snap. But anger is never a good emotion. You should never let anger control you. Anger is a terrible emotion and should never be embraced.”

“My therapist says otherwise.”

Therapist?

“Oh. What does he say?” Dr. Fig mocked.

“ _She_ said that anger is good reaction and that holding in your emotions is bad. You should recognize anger and deal with appropriately. Like you shouldn't kill them or snap at them but you should definitely be angry.”

“That is true. In the real world you have to learn to control your emotions. You can't act on your negative feelings all the time. When you do have something to say, say it calmly and respectfully. Give your opinion and then let others think about what their views on it are. It's not appropriate to yell. The person on the other side won't take you seriously and instead, the point will be lost and there will only be more rage.”

Will was confused. Will was very confused. Not only had Nico interrupted Dr. Fig three times, but Dr. Fig hadn't started yelling at him. Instead, Dr. Fig herself stopped yelling and started giving actual good advice.

It didn't make any sense.

The teacher continued. “So all I'm trying to say is, is that if I hurt anyone in anyway, I apologize, but yelling at me is not an effective way to address the problem. If you have any problems, please see me after class or after school. I am willing to listen and hopefully we can come to an appropriate solution.”

The entire classes eyes widened. What the hell had just happened? The teacher didn't spend the entire class yelling? The teacher actually spoke calmly? The new kid interrupted and no one died? How? What?

Will looked over towards Nico from the corner of his eye. His face was expressionless, but his eyes looked different from yesterday. They didn’t seem as empty any more. Instead there was something swirling in them. Anger?

“Now class,” Fig announced. “Today we're learning about covalent and ionic bonds. Can anyone tell me what they are?”

Teaching? Since when does she teach? What is going on?

An idea struck Will like a brick to the face.

Did she know about the principal trying to fire her? Is that why she's trying? To make herself look good?

Will didn't know. But Will was not going to complain. He got off easy, and he not about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

For the first time in Chemistry class, they actually learned Chemistry, and Will learned that Dr. Fig could teach if she tried. Apparently she wasn't a bad teacher. She was a bad human. Will felt sorry for her soulmate.

Wait, no. That was rude. Will bet that Dr. Fig and her soulmate loved each other very much.

When the bell rang, Will left the class feeling like he actually learned something. It was a great feeling. The feeling of knowing that the past 90 minutes of your life weren't a complete waste.

Will's final class for the day was French. If Will remembered Nico's schedule properly, Nico had Art. They were both in the same direction from the science hallway, so Will thought they could walk together.

They were about to leave the class when Dr. Fig stopped them. “Nico. Can you stay for a bit before your next class? I'll write you a pass. I just want to talk to you since your new and catch you up.”

Nico narrowed his eyes, but nodded his head in agreement.

Will stood there awkwardly for a few seconds before waving and shuffling out of the classroom.

 

Will’s French teacher wasn’t here today...again. This was the fifth time this month. The month started less than two weeks ago. Will was concerned for his teacher, but also getting annoyed. With her absent, the entire class was left with a substitute. Substitutes could be either good or bad. Some just sat around and did nothing while other attempted to teach and failed. There was also the rare substitute who taught even better than the actual teacher.

This time, their subsitte was one of those people who didn’t care. They just sat at the front and started messing on their phone. This led to half the class doing the same and the rest talking. Will was having a conversation with his table mate Jake about some movie he watched the other day.

That was around the time the substitute remembered the attendance and had Will bring the sheet down to office.

On Will’s way back, he found Nico in the hallway walking really slowly. Will sped walk and caught up to him.

“Nico,” he called.

Nico immediately tensed up and froze. Will stopped next to him and looked at him concerned.

“You okay?” Will asked.

Nico looked him over and loosened up before glaring at him.

“Leave me alone,” he hissed before walking past him.

Will frowned and followed behind him. “What happened?”

Nico let out an annoyed sigh, and Will couldn’t see his face, but he probably rolled his eyes. “Doesn’t matter.”

“It clearly does if you’re upset.” Will looked him over again and his eyes landed on a slip of paper Nico was crushing in his right hand. “Did Dr. Fig say something?”

“I said it doesn’t matter.”

That was clearly it. “What did she say?” If it was anything like normal, than it must have been bad. Will knew she was just pretending to be a good person. No one suddenly became good like that.

“It’s not important Will! Just...just go to class.”

Will sighed. “You don’t have to tell me. Sorry.”

Nico stopped walking. Will stopped next to him. Both of them stayed silent, and Will decided to give Nico some silence and wait until he says something.

“She’s a bitch,” he finally whispers.

“She is. She’ll probably get fired soon.”

“Sure.” Silence. “Umm...I kinda got lost. Do you know where I’m going?”

Will looked towards him and noticed that he didn’t look as angry. He looked hesitant and...there was a broken look in his eyes.

“Yeah. I’ll take you.” Will responded.

Will didn't like seeing that expression on anyone, but he decided not to ask Nico what happened again. They had just met. Will could understand if he didn't want to tell him something. Will just hoped he did have someone to tell. It clearly upset him.

Will leads Nico to the art hallway and stops in front of his classroom. “Well, I’ll see ya,” Will says before turning away.

“Thank you,” Nico responds quickly.

Will stops and turns around. “No problem. I wasn’t going to let you just wander around the school.”

“No. Not just that. For... umm...for talking to me and calming me down. I…” Nico shakes his head. “Just, thanks.”

He quickly turns and enters the classroom leaving Will in the hallway by himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dodge ball is actually illegal in some states...including mine. So instead we play the pin ball game Nico explained. 
> 
> For some reason I feel like there's something wrong with my verb tenses...it just sounds wrong, and I don't know why...
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed that chapter!  
> If you did, please comments and kudos! Thank you for those of you who did last chapter!  
> Constructive criticism and suggestion are welcome!  
> Thank you for reading!  
> I hope you all have a good day or night wherever you are! :)


	4. That Did Not Go As Planned...

“My Chemistry teacher is a bitch.” 

“Language Nico,” Jason sighed. “What happened?” 

“She made me stay after class and…” Nico sighed. He didn’t want to continue this conversation, so he leaned his head on his hand and stared out the window. 

“And…” Jason stressed. 

His voice was calm like it was a normal conversation. Like he wasn’t _ trying _ to get Nico to talk. Nico had always liked that about Jason. He didn't immediately spring into sounding like he was pitying him or trying to “fix” him. He treated him like a normal person. A stubborn person, yes, but a normal person. Yeah, he tried to help, but all of his efforts didn't sound pitiful. He still talked to him the same way he used to. He got sad for him or angry towards him, but he never viewed him as someone who couldn’t do anything anymore and needed help 24/7. 

“She...well, in sum she said that...she brought up... brought up  _ that _ and said she felt sorry for my soulmate,” Nico eventually stuttered out while waving his hands everywhere. 

Nico hated mentioning what he called  _ the incident _ . He hated talking about it and everything to do with it. He didn’t even want to think about it more than he had to.  

Nico’s anger was beginning to fade out, and instead of wanting to punch something, he could now feel his heart pounding and tears building up in his eyes. 

He did not want those falling out. 

Nico looked over at Jason from the corner of his eye and saw him scowling. 

“Yeah she is a bitch,” Jason agreed.

“Language Jason.” 

A small smile came to both their faces.

“Yeah. Yeah.” Jason waved off. 

Nico looked back out the window. He could still feels the tears in his eyes, but he felt better overall. 

“But it's not true, alright?” Jason affirmed. “What she said. You're a really great person, and I'm sure whoever your soulmate is will think the same.” 

Well, there goes that good feeling. 

“Sure,” Nico sighed.  

Nico had heard pretty much the same thing from everyone he knew. That he was great and there was nothing to worry about. Nico usually agreed with them just to make them happy. He knew it wasn't true. In all honesty,  _ he  _ felt sorry for his soulmate. He wouldn't be surprised if his soulmate left him and married someone else. It’s not like it was illegal anymore. Sure, some people were strongly against it, but it wasn’t  _ illegal.  _

He had good qualities. He knew that. Sure, he didn't always feel confident about them, but he knew they existed. The few people who cared about him told him that as much as they could. He was decently smart, he could cook, he was usually nice, he would defend someone even if he didn’t know them. There were good things about him. Things that he liked. 

But Nico could see a lot more bad things and he knew that everyone else could too. He got angry to easily, there were days he wouldn't talk, he got nightmares, he worried people too much, people had to remind him to take care of himself, he hurt himself, he pushed people away, he was a general annoyance. 

If his soulmate ever said that they wanted to be with him, it would be entirely out of pity. His soulmate would get tired of dealing with him eventually and then they'd leave. Leave him behind with a shattered heart and move on.

It would be better for both of them if neither of them met. Nico didn't want to meet the person who was on the other side of the words on his arm. He didn't want to meet the person who's favorite color was yellow, loved helping people, and hated pistachios. He didn't want to meet the person who had friends who annoyed him to no end and a mom he loved with his whole heart. He didn't want to meet the person who was so nice that his arm once said ' _ I'm worried about my soulmate.’  _ He didn't want to meet the person and ruin their life and abuse their kindness. Nico wanted them to be happy, and he knew that the best way to do that would be to never meet them.

That's why Nico hoped that he would never meet his soulmate. Not because he hated them, but because he knew that it would only end badly.

Jason pulled up at Nico's house. Actually no, it was more like a masion. Nico's Dad was loaded. Not that Jason's was any poorer as the CEO of Olympus Corp. 

“Do you need me to stay?” Jason asked like he always does. 

Nico shook his head. “Seph is home. And I'm fine.” 

Jason gave him a once over before nodding. “Call me if you need me or even just want to talk.” 

“I know. See ya Jase.” 

“See ya.” 

Nico exited Jason’s car and walked up the walkway and steps to his home. The door opened and a loud ring echoed throughout the house to let anyone inside know that the door opened no matter where they are. 

“Kitchen,” Seph called out. 

Nico walked into the kitchen and dumped his backpack on a chair in the dining room.

Seph was currently beating eggs in a bowl. Her light brown hair was tied up and she had a flowery apron on. 

Seph, Persephone, was Nico's Dad’s soulmate. At first, Persephone was pretty upset that her soulmate had three children with two different women who weren’t her, but she later warmed up to him and Hazel. She even came with him to Bianca's grave on her birthday last month. Now, they all got along, and Nico honestly liked her. 

“Wash your hands,” Seph instructed. “My mother invited your father and I over tomorrow, and I need a cake. Help, please.” 

Her mother, however, did not warm up to them. This led to a lot of awkward dinners and eventually led to barely any. 

She hated them with so much passion that Nico sometimes liked to imagine that she entered a contest and the winner was the person who showed the most hate towards their step grandchildren. People from all over the world came to compete in hopes of winning the ultimate prize: fake divorce papers. 

“Why the dinner?” Nico asked walking up to the sink.

“Who knows. All she said was that she missed me.” 

Nico turned on the sink and washed his hands with the hand soap they always kept there. “Strange.” 

“I know. She even asked us to stay the night. We'll see if that happens.” 

“Do you want to?” 

“We’ll probably be tired. And her house is an hour and a half away.” 

She wanted to, but Nico knew she wouldn't say it out loud. He also knew what the main factor towards them staying would be: if his Dad was worried over him or not. Nico would have to work extra hard to look fine tomorrow. 

Nico turned off the sink and dried his hands with the towel before walking up to where Persephone was and helping with the cake. 

Nico loved baking. Cooking too. His Mama used to own a small restaurant in Venice, and her food was always great. He loved watching her toss things together and create beautiful, delicious dishes. She was actually able to get him to eat all his vegetables. She got him go eat practically anything other than liver. Nico hated liver. 

She thought him to make a few things too. The first thing she ever showed him to make Bianca's favorite lemon cake. It was Bianca's birthday, and Nico was so happy to see her smile when she ate it and tell him that he did a good job. 

After that, Nico followed his Mama across the kitchen and helped her make everything. When she died, Nico took her recipe book and did his best to perfect every dish in it. To be good enough to make something that tasted as good his Mama did. To do his best to keep her memory alive. He wasn't done going through the book yet, but he hoped he would someday. 

Persephone popped their lemon cake into the oven a second before the door opened and Hazel rushed into the kitchen. 

Hazel was Nico's little sister. She was almost eight and the sweetest person in the world. 

She had curly cinnamon hair and sparkling golden eyes. Her smile was always bright enough to lighten up a room and brought adorable dimples to her dark cheeks. 

She was a small bundle of cuteness who never failed to bring a smile on his face. Even on the bad days, Nico couldn't resist of smile lightly when she expressed so much joy. 

“Nico! Nico! Look! Look!” She shouted as she ran towards him. She stopped in front of him and held up a piece of paper. 

“Today's International Newspaper Day. So I drew you riding a bike and throwing a newspaper at someone's house like they do on TV.” 

Awwwww. 

It wasn't the best drawing Nico had ever seen, but it was definitely easy to see that it was picture of him on a red bike throwing a bundled up newspaper at a red brick house. 

“That's amazing Hazel!” Nico leaned down in front of her and started pointing at different parts of the picture. “Like here. You did a great job at using different colors for the bricks. And here, you did a great job at shaping the bike. And here, you did a great job at shaping the clouds, but also making sure that there aren't too many.” 

Or at least that's how much Nico could tell about the picture. He should really wear his stupid reading glasses and stop forgetting about them. He's had them for almost five months. 

Nico took the drawing from Hazel's hands and put in on the fridge with a magnet. “I love it.” 

“Yay!” She then ran to the oven and stood in front of it peering inside. “Cake?” 

Seph chuckled. “Yes. But it's not for you. My mother invited your father and I over for dinner tomorrow, and I'm bring that cake.”

Hazel frowned. “I'm hungry.” 

“I think we still have some leftover lasagna.” 

“I want something sweet.” 

“Ice cream?” 

“Okay!” 

 

It was 10:34 and Nico felt a ticklish feeling on his arm, but he didn't check what it said. It would be easier if he just didn't look. Not that he could easily look anyways. He ended up slashing his arm, so he wouldn't be able to see it, and then bandaged it up. If he never looked, then he wouldn't start assuming people are his soulmate, and if he kept it covered, his soulmate wouldn't accidentally touch his arm. So even if he did meet his soulmate, they wouldn't know and he wouldn't know and everything would be fine. 

That was for the best, for both him and his soulmate, no matter what the selfish part of his brain said. 

 

Nico, somehow, did not have any nightmares that night, so it wasn't very hard for him to act that he actually got some sleep (cause he actually did). He also felt like he had more energy than usual, so it wasn't too hard to put a smile on his face when Hazel told him one of her stories during breakfast. He also took a shower without anyone reminding him, put his contacts in, and tried to brush his hair to make it look a bit more tame (he had minimal success). And he actually packed a lunch that was more than a bag of snacks before he walked out of the door to Jules Albert's car. 

Jules Albert was his father's driver, and he always drove Nico to school and picked him up whenever Jason couldn't. Jason didn't really need to pick Nico up. He lived twenty minutes away and went to a different high school, but, for some reason, Jason decided that he wanted to do it. Nico didn't really understand, but he didn't complain. Jason definitely ranked high on the list of people he liked. He just worried that all that driving would tire Jason out. 

The ride to school was silent like always. Jules wasn't much of a talker, but Nico liked it that way. And when Nico did want to talk, Jules would ways listen and give him any advice he had. 

Nico didn't have anything to share today though. For once in a long time he actually felt good. He actually felt like he had the energy to do things. Nico decided that he was not going to waste today. Who knows when he'll get another day like today? 

He pulled out his phone and texted his best friend Val. They hadn't seen each other since he moved, but they still talked everyday. 

 

**7:56**

**I feel good today**

 

Jules dropped Nico off at school and Nico did his best to remember where his class was. He had Government, so that would be in the social studies hallway which was the B hallway. He remembered that, but he didn't remember what room number is was. B101...102? He didn't remember. 

When he made it to the two rooms, he found out B102 was the teacher's lounge, so he went with B101. 

It turned out he was right. He recognized a few faces, and the teacher was the same. He went to the back where he sat on his first day and sat down. He pulled his phone out and saw that Val replied. (He could actually easily see what he was reading and it was amazing.)

 

**8:00**

**Why?**

**Did something happen?**

 

**8:03**

**No**

**I'm not entirely sure why**

**I just do**

**I feel like I have a lot of energy and I want to do something with it**

 

**8:04**

**That's good**

**It's a Friday**

**Maybe you should take Hazel out or something**

**My test is about to start, so I’ll talk later**

**Don’t forget about our movie night today!**

 

The warning bell rang making Nico flinch. His chest tightened and that weird feeling that always showed up when he was scared or anxious spread across his whole body. It took his a couple seconds for him to notice that it was the school bell, and he had nothing to worry about. Good thing he sat in the back and no one noticed him. 

“Are you okay?” 

Damn it. 

Nico turned right towards the voice. It was a boy with blonde hair and dark rimmed glasses that made his gray eyes stand out. He had a sharp, calculating expression, but at the same time he also looked concerned. 

“I'm fine,” Nico answered quickly. 

The boy raised his eyebrows skeptical, but turned away without asking anymore questions. 

Nico sighed with relief. 

“Hey Nico,” a voice said loudly right next to him. 

Nico controlled himself and didn't flinch again, but his heart rate went up. 

He turned to his left and saw Will sit down next to him. 

“Hey,” he replies as calmly as he can. Will didn't seem to notice that anything was wrong, so Nico took it as a success. 

“You feeling okay after yesterday?” Will asked with a hint of worry in his tone. 

Yesterday? What happened…?

Oh. Nico had entirely forgot about that. He woke up in such a good mood that he didn't even think about that stupid Chem teacher. 

“I'm better. I actually feel really good today,” Nico responded. It wasn't a lie. It was  _ actually _ the truth. Nico didn't remember the last time he said that and meant it. 

It was strange. Nico had no idea what prompted his good day, but he wasn't going to waste time thinking about it. He can think about it when he has one of his normal days. 

“That's good. Don't let whatever she said get to you. She's just a bitch.” 

The school bell rang again and this time Nico didn't flinch. 

 

Nico had apparently done a good job at convincing his father that he was having a good day since he told him to take care of himself and that they would come back tomorrow. 

His father did not need to know that he put contacts in and didn't realize how he was supposed to be absolutely terrified of putting things in his eyes until 5th period English. He had to ask Jason for help to take them out since he couldn't do it himself, and he was about to have a mental breakdown. He really should throw those contacts away, and actually wear his glasses like he was now. Being able to read thing without struggling was truly amazing. 

When Jules dropped Hazel off at home at 4:07, Dad and Seph immediately said their goodbyes and left to go on their drive to Seph's mother. That left Nico and Hazel alone. And since the contact fiasco hadn't entirely ruined Nico's mood, he knew what he wanted to do. 

“Hey Hazel. I heard about this ice cream shop walking distance from here. You wanna go?” Nico asked. 

“Ice cream?” Hazel asked in awe.

If there was one thing Hazel loved, it was ice cream. 

“Yep. They're supposed to have really good ice cream and over fifty flavors.” 

“Really?” 

Nico nodded. 

“Can we really go?” Hazel started jumping up and down with a huge grin on her face. 

“That's why I asked.” 

Hazel stopped jumping. “Are you well enough to go?” 

Hazel knew...well she didn't know the full extent of it, but she knew enough to know that there was something wrong with him. Sometimes Nico really hated that she did. He tried his best to hide it from her, but it was hard on the  _ really  _ bad days. 

“Yes Haze. I'm good.” 

At those words, Hazel immediately grabbed his hand and pulled him to the front door. 

“Wait. I need to grab my keys. And my wallet.” 

Hazel stopped and let go of him. “Hurry up then.” 

Nico shook his head. 

And if there was one thing in the world that Nico loved, it was Hazel Levesque. 

 

They got to the shop ten minutes later. 

It was a small shop with the name, Frozen Sweets (not very creative). It looked like a small shop on the outside, and when they entered, it didn't look any bigger. The walls were painted light blue and the floor had a mixture of light blue and white tiles. There were snowflakes scattered around and each of the six table had a snowflake decoration piece. The counter had a row of ice cream tubs all having small amounts and name tags for their flavors. Nico assumed that these were just for display and the actual ice cream they would serve was somewhere else since these didn't look touched. 

There were three other people at the shop other than them and  the cashier who was working at the front. Three very familiar people. 

“Nico? Coincidence!” Cecil shouted. The three of them were sitting at a table near the back with cups of ice cream. Nico waved at them with a small smile before leading Hazel to the cashier. 

It was an Asian girl with her hair in ringlets and makeup coating her face but not too much. The pink eye shadow was definitely noticeable though. Her name tag said  _ Drew _ . Her eyes were staring ahead out the window, and she had a bored look on her face. 

The shop must not be getting a lot of customers today. Or maybe they all arrived at five. 

“Ummm...hi?” Nico greeted hesitantly. 

Curse his inability to hold normal conversations with strangers!

Drew looked towards him with a bored look before her eyes widened and a smile spread across her lips. “Hello sweetie. What can I get you?” 

Nico found it weird that she called him sweetie considering she didn't look that much older than him, but he decide to ignore it. He was having a good day. 

Nico looked down at Hazel who was staring at awe towards all of the different ice cream flavors. “Which one do you want Haze?” 

She didn't look away from all the ice cream. “I don't know. There's so much.”

Nico walked up to her and lifted her up, so she could get a clearer view. Nico looked up and down the tubs of different ice cream flavors and all the names to see if anything would catch his eye. Some of the flavors were normal like strawberry or chocolate, but some of them had names like 'Big Muddy’ and 'Blue Moon’. Nico noticed that there were at least seven different types of vanilla. 

“There are so many,” Hazel complained. 

“We can come back another time and you can pick another flavor.” 

Hazel nodded. 

In the end, Hazel ended up getting two scoops of some apple pie flavored ice cream and Nico chose watermelon just because he had never seen watermelon ice cream before. 

Drew got them their cups while smiling the whole time. She seemed nice enough. 

Nico paid for their ice cream and turned around to leave the shop. Well, he was. That was before he accidentally bumped into someone and got his watermelon ice cream all over his clothes. It turned out that person was Cecil. 

“Oh shit. Sorry.” 

“Language,” Nico replied almost automatically. 

Cecil's eyes went down to Hazel, and he gave an apologetic smile. “Sorry.” 

Will came towards him with a bundle of napkins and started trying to clean his shirt. 

“Don't stand that close to people Cecil. This is the third time you bumped into someone this week. I'm starting to think you do it on purpose,” Will scolded. 

“I said I'm sorry,” Cecil whined. 

Nico looked back and forth between them. “It's fine. We were going home anyways. I'll just change when I get there.” 

Will started scrubbing the napkins harder on his shirt, and Nico was starting to feel really uncomfortable. 

“I'm fine Will,” he repeated. 

Will looked up at him. “ Don't worry it's almost out.” 

“No really. I can do it myself. It's fine.” 

“I'm almost done anyways.” 

Nico was starting to get kind of desperate. Will may have only been scrubbing at his shirt, but each touch felt like a million burning needles. He never really liked being touched by people he didn't know well. It used to be okay before. He was uncomfortable at worst. But after  _ the incident  _  he started hating it. 

He knew Will wasn't trying to hurt him, he was just cleaning up the ice cream on his shirt, but it still felt weird. Wrong. And Nico wanted out. 

Nico lightly grabbed Will's arm, the one he was cleaning his shirt with. 

His aim was to just move it off of him and step away. 

What Nico didn't realize was that it was Will's right arm. He didn't notice that Will was wearing a t-shirt. And he definitely didn't notice the words etched into the inside of Will's arm. 

If he had, he wouldn't have touched them. If he had, he would have just moved away or grabbed his hand. 

Or maybe he wouldn't. Because if Nico was honest, he had never guessed that touching Will's soulmark would start a flashback. 

 

_ There were sirens blaring. The smell of smoke and metal filled his nose. Burning. Burning. Burning. Red. So much red. He was coughing. It hurt. It hurt so much.  _

_ Where was Mom? Will couldn’t see her. It was just red, red, and red.  _

_ The sirens were getting closer. More smoke. More coughs.  _

_ The door next to him opened. There was some man. A fireman. That’s what it looked like. Will wasn’t sure. He was still coughing. His chest still hurt. He couldn’t move his legs. He couldn’t see Mom.  _

_ The fireman was saying something. Something. Will couldn’t hear him. His ears were ringing. All he could hear were the sirens.  _

_ He couldn’t breathe. He was still coughing. Everything was turning dark. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt.  _

_ He could feel someone touching him. Probably the fireman. Will wasn’t sure. He couldn’t see. It was dark. Dark. Dark.  _

 

_ He woke up in a hospital room.  Heartmoniter beeping. The smell of medicine and cleaning products. The hospital gown. IV in his arm. Oxygen mask over his mouth. Thin blankets over him.  _

_ There was a nurse. He was saying something. Something about him being okay. Something about some drunk driver crashing into his mom’s prius when they were driving home. Something about him having three broken ribs, a cut over his chest, and a broken left leg, but otherwise, he was okay. The smoke would clear from his lungs soon, and the injuries would all heal, so he would be completely okay.  _

_ He tried to ask about his mom, but no words came out. He needed to know. She was all he had, and he needed her to be okay. He needed her to be completely okay after that accident. The nurse seemed to understand what he wanted to say. He said that they weren’t sure about his mom. He said she was in surgery and they didn’t know if she would make it. He said that she got metal shards inside of her and they needed to remove them and check for internal bleeding. He said that the doctors were all trying their best. He said that he didn’t know, but the fight wasn’t over. He said that they’ll know for sure in two days.  _

_ Will didn’t want to wait. Will wanted to know. Will didn’t want to wait in a hospital room with three broken ribs, stitches in his chest, and a broken leg. He didn’t want to lie in a stupid hospital bed with the heart monitor beeping and an oxygen mask letting him breathe. It was the middle of August and his mom said that they were going to go to Disney World next week. Will was eleven and he didn’t want to spend two days of his life just waiting to know if his mom was okay. He wanted to do something, anything.  _

_ But he couldn’t because he was only eleven and had three broken ribs, a cut across his chest, a broken leg, and an oxygen tube down his throat letting him breathe.  _

 

_ It was three days later that another nurse told him that his mom was okay. She told him that she was lucky and that it wasn’t as bad as they initially thought. She told him that his mom would make a full recovery. She told him that his mom was still asleep, but he could visit her tomorrow.  _

_ Will had three broken ribs, a cut across his chest, a broken leg, and no oxygen tube down his throat when the nurse told him that his mom would make a full recovery. When she told him that they would both make a full recovery.  _

 

_ Will had a roommate in the hospital. It a women that looked older than his mom.  _

_ A teenage girl was sitting next to her crying that day. The mom was trying to calm her down. Will knew why the girl was crying. The doctor said that her mom wouldn’t make it. She wouldn’t make a full recovery.  _

_ Will had three broken ribs, a cut across his chest, and a broken leg when he saw a girl learn that her mother wouldn’t make it. Will and his mom were going to make a full recovery, but his hospital roommate wouldn’t.  _

_ Will didn’t think it was fair. He didn’t think it was fair that some people made it and some people didn’t.  _

_ Will was eleven and in a hospital room when he watched someone die because the doctors couldn’t save her.  _

_ Will was eleven and had just watched his hospital roommate’s heartbeat monitor flatline.  _

_ Will had three broken ribs, a cut across his chest, and a broken leg and knew his mom and him would make a full recovery on the day he decided that he wanted to find a way to be able to tell someone like his hospital roommate’s daughter that their mom would also be okay.  _

 

Nico wasn’t sure how, but he was now lying on the floor with his head on Will’s lap. 

“Doctor,” he muttered. 

“What?” Will responded softly. 

“Doctor. You wanna be a doctor. Because of the lady in the hospital.” 

Will’s confused look became a sad smile. “Is that what you saw?” 

Nico didn’t know why Will expected him to see anything. 

But then Nico saw Will’s right arm, and Nico remembered, and Nico wished he had not just touched Will’s soulmark. He wished he was more careful. He wished he had never seen that memory or knew why Will wanted to be a doctor. 

Nico wished he was more careful. 

Nico wished that he hadn’t just seen one of Will’s memories and that the words on Will’s arm hadn’t faded away and been replaced with ‘ _ Nico Di Angelo’.  _

Nico sat up from Will’s lap and looked around. He was still in the ice cream shop. Cecil and Lou Ellen were at one of the tables with Hazel distracting her while Will somehow got Nico to the side of the shop. Drew was still near the cash register and looked their way every few seconds with a mixture of concern and happiness. 

“So...ummm…” Will mumbled. 

Why was Nico such as idiot? Why? Why? Why? 

He wasn’t supposed to find his soulmate. He wasn’t supposed to let his soulmate find out who their soulmate was. 

Will didn’t deserve this. Will was too nice. Will was the person who toured him around the school and talked to him because he wanted to. He was the person who invited him into his friend group without a second thought. He was the person who was actually able to calm Nico down when he was angry and just wanted to punch something or yell at the world. He was the one who actually asked if he was okay the next day. He was the one who tried to clean watermelon ice cream off his shirt. 

Nico barely knew him, but Nico knew that Will was a nice person, and Nico didn’t deserve him. Nico had seen the thing written on his arm, and he knew that Will fit the picture that the words had created. Nico knew even before he met Will that his soulmate was to good for him, and this just confirmed it. 

Nico had met Will three days ago, but the words on his arm and the limited interaction proved to him that Will was too good for him. 

Nico knew he didn’t deserve Will as his soulmate. Out of all people, Will didn't deserve to have to deal with Nico as his soulmate. 

So instead of saying anything, he got up from the floor picked Hazel up and left the shop without another look. 

Nico didn't realize that it was Will's right arm. He didn't notice that Will was wearing a t-shirt. And he definitely didn't notice the words etched into the inside of Will's arm. 

If he had, he wouldn't have touched them. If he had, he would have moved away or grabbed his hand. 

Or maybe he wouldn't. Because if Nico was honest, he had never guessed that Will was his soulmate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now they know.  
> Also Jason! And Hazel!  
> And how do people put contacts in their eyes? I can't put eye drops in my eyes without struggling.  
> I'm perfectly fine with glasses. No contacts for me. 
> 
> So all of my IB exams are finally over, so I should have time to write this.  
> This is also the last chapter I had written before IB exams started, so...  
> Let's see how long it takes to write the next one. Shouldn't be too long...  
> And Ramadan started, so that could either lead me to having more time to write or less. We shall see.  
> Ramadan Mubarak!
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!  
> If you did, please leave comments and/or kudos! Thank you to all of you who already have!  
> Suggestions and constructive criticism is welcome  
> Thank you for reading!  
> I hope you all have a good day/night wherever you are!


	5. I Still Think Destiny Messed Up

Nico made chicken noodle soup. That was his comfort food, and his Mama always made him chicken noodle soup when he was upset. And he was stressed and he knew his good day was over, but he needed to act normal since he needed to take care of Hazel and the one thing that he didn’t want to deal with was right in front of him and he didn’t know what to do, but he was going to distract himself by making a pot of his Mama’s chicken noodle soup.

So Nico made chicken noodle soup.

Hazel said that it tasted fine, but Nico couldn’t really taste anything. Even his comfort food wasn’t providing him comfort.

Nico didn’t know if Hazel could tell if something was wrong, but Nico was still relieved when she decided to go to her room and draw after dinner instead of asking him to play a game with her. Nico didn’t think he would be able to concentrate during a game. But he also needed a distraction. Having bad thoughts run through his mind was never a good thing.

He thought about calling Jason, but Jason would probably panic and rush over to his house, and he didn’t really want that. But then again, maybe that’s what he needed.

Then he remembered Valerie and how they were supposed to have a movie night over Skype at 7:00 PST. She was going to be mad. She even told him not to forget that morning. And of course, he forgot. He was a _great_  friend.

But he still didn’t want to get up. He was tired. He didn’t think he would be able to keep a happy face on for her. He doubted he would even be able to say anything at all. He was too tired.

But Valerie was his best friend. Sometimes Nico thought that the only reason Jason or his dad or Percy tried to help him was because he was family.

But Valerie was different. Nico and her became friends when Nico first moved to the US. She was there when he baked his first cake by himself. She was there when Bianca died. She was there when Persephone first came into his life. She was there when Hazel came into his life. She was there when he was in the hospital after his three months of hell. She was there when he was trying to recover. She was there when he had to go to school afterwards and the people there were more than just mean.

His family was there too, but Valerie didn’t have to be. She had to obligation to be. She could have easily left at any point. No one would have judged her for it.

But she didn’t. Even after he moved across the country, she still talked to him and they had there weekly meetups.

And Nico knew he could tell her this. If there was one person Nico trusted with this, it would be her. She wouldn’t tell anyone else, and since she was on the other side of the country, she wouldn’t be able to show up at his house and talk to him.

So Nico got up and went upstairs to his room. Nico normally loved his room. The walls were white  along with the floor. He had a small black rug over the floor though. His bed was in the corner near a window. The blankets were black and gray while his pillow covers were white. He had a black desk in the corner next to his bookshelf that was stacked with books. A small bulletin board was on his wall near his bookshelf. It had pictures of him with his family and Valerie along with some of the pictures Hazel drew. It was a simple room, but Nico didn’t really want to put in too much effort towards decorating it. Nor did he need a lot of stuff.

However, today Nico’s room seemed  dreary. It wasn’t the room itself. It was more like being in any room just made him feel alone. It reminded him too much of being alone and locked up in a small room with no way out. And he hated that feeling.

So instead of staying, he grabbed his phone and laptop and walked back downstairs to the kitchen. The kitchen was bigger and much more open.

He sat down on one of the stools and turned on his laptop before unlocking his phone and seeing how many times Valerie had tried to contact him.

It turned out the answer was twelve. Three phone calls and nine text messages.

Nico called her back. She answered on the first ring.

“Nico! What the hell?!” She shouted. She sounded angry, but Nico could hear a hint of worry in her voice.

“Sorry Valerie,” he apologized. “I wasn’t checking the time.”

“What were you doing?”

“I made chicken noodle soup.”

“What’s wrong?”

Valerie knew well enough that he only made chicken noodle soup when something bad happened. She knew he only ever made it when he needed comfort. He knew that. Then why did he tell her? He was supposed to try and look alright.

“Nothing’s wrong,” he answered.

“Yeah, and I’m really an alien.” She sighed. “Nico. Really, what’s wrong? You said that you were having a good day this morning.”

“I was.”

“Then what changed?”

Nico took a deep breath and opened his mouth, but no words came out.

Come on Nico. He had already decided that he would tell her. He needed help, and he was going to get it from her. That was the plan. Why couldn’t he talk?

“You don’t have to tell me now. Do you want to skip today? I don’t mind.”

Of course she minds. He was wasting her time. She wanted to have fun and Nico was ruining it with his problems and stupidity.  

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“It’s fine Nico. If you want to talk, call me at any time. I don’t care if it’s 3 AM here. Okay?”

“Yeah...yeah. Thanks.”

“Of course. Do you want me to stay on line or do you want silence for now?”

Nico didn’t want to be alone. He really didn’t.

“I...I kinda want to be alone.”

But he couldn’t annoy her. She had better things to do.

“Okay. I’ll talk to you later than.”

“Yeah. Bye Valerie.”

He hung up and laid his head on the kitchen counter. Why did he do that? Because he was annoying her. Was he? She cared didn’t she? But he was still annoying.

Nico groaned. Everything was a mess. A huge mess. And it was too quiet. Too quiet.

Maybe he should call Jason and ask him to come over.

In the end, Nico spent the entire time thinking of what to do, but ended up not doing anything. So when the time turned to 10:34, and his arm starting itching Nico looked down at his arm and removed the stupid bandage wrapped around it, and actually read what it said for the first time in months. There were cuts and small scars over the words, but he could still make out what it said.

 

‘ _That’s good’_

 

Half of Nico wanted to take the knife he knew was still in the sink and cut the words off his arm. The other half of him just wanted to break down and cry.

But he didn’t do either of those.

Instead, he just stared. Stared at the stupid words on his arm that were causing his problems. Staring at the stupid words and wishing that they weren’t there because things would be so much easier for him if he didn’t have a soulmark. Stared at the stupid words on his arms and knew that they were Will’s and Will had his, but since he touched Will’s mark, Nico’s name was now on his arm instead, and it would stay there until tomorrow. Stared at the stupid words on his arm and knew that he didn’t deserve them, and he wished that he wasn’t such an idiot. Stared at the stupid words and decided that he wouldn’t let Will see them. He wouldn’t let him see his messed up arm and touch his damned soulmark and trigger a flashback and have Will’s name show up on his arm.

Because, Nico knew that he wasn’t good enough to have a soulmate. _They_ told him that enough.

 

 

In the end, he didn’t tell Valerie and he didn’t call Jason. He knew that his family knew something was wrong with him. Anyone would be able to tell something was wrong with him if he kept waking up screaming and refused to eat and kept himself locked in his room. But they didn’t ask. They were probably used to it by now.

Nico tried to think of a way to solve his problem. At first, he thought he could just avoid Will. But how do you avoid someone you have four classes with?

Nico wanted to skip school. He really did. But he was the one who convinced his dad to let him go to school again in the first place, and he couldn’t skip school less than a week after his first day. Homeschooling would have been easier, but Nico wanted to go to school, and he was going to get himself out of bed and go to school and avoid Will if he could, and if he couldn’t, he would think of something else cause Nico had to deal with this eventually anyways.

So Nico got out of his bed and changed his clothes and remembered to wear his glasses and ate a bowl of cereal and brushed his teeth and went outside and sat in Jules’ car before he could change his mind and let his anxiety beat him.

 

 

Nico’s anxiety beat him when he reached the school’s gym. Instead of going inside the gym, Nico ran and hid himself in the boy’s bathroom until the one minute warning bell rang. That’s when he actually started thinking about whether or not he should just skip the class or not.

It was just PE. It’s not like he would miss anything important. And he couldn’t even participate since Coach Hedge needed to order him a uniform since they didn’t have any is storage.

But Nico knew his dad would get worried if the school called and said he was missing, so Nico did his best to calm his nerves and ran to the gym. He sat down near the front where Coach Hedge’s table was without looking at anyone there.

Coach Hedge immediately had him go and get badminton rackets and birdies from storage, so he was able to successfully not talk to Will before he left the gym.

When Nico came back, the class was tasked to play badminton and Nico was tasked to make sure no one cheated and write down everyone’s score. At some point, the boy from the dodgeball game challenged Nico to badminton, winner is the one who gets five points first, and Nico beat him in fifteen minutes. The only reason Nico won was because Jason loved playing with him and Jason was really great, but the boy was mad at him and Nico couldn’t really do anything about it.

Nico would probably be challenged to something else the next class.

Nico saw Will, and he knew that Will looked over at him multiple times during the class, but Nico avoided him.

When the bell rang, Nico ran out of the class and waited in the boy’s bathroom near his math classroom. When the warning bell rang, Nico went to his class and sat in an empty seat as far from Will as possible.

When lunch came, Nico ran to the library and hid in the bookshelves. It’s not like he packed a lunch anyways.

When it was time for Chemistry, Nico did the same thing he did for math. He could feel Will looking over at him frustrated, but Nico was going to avoid this and wait for Will to get tired of him. He hoped that would be sooner rather than later.

The Chemistry class actually consisted of the teacher teaching, but Nico could also feel her glaring in his direction every so often. Nico copied her and glared back.

He had issues bigger than dealing with his bitchy teacher.

 

 

“What took so long?” Jason asked looking at him. His voice sound annoyed, but he was smiling, so Nico knew he wasn’t really annoyed.

“Talking to a friend,” Nico replied.

He couldn’t bring himself to tell Jason that he actually went the long way around the school, so he wouldn’t run into Will. Jason didn’t need to know that. Not yet.

Jason immediately started beaming and it looked like he was holding himself back from jumping in place. “Oh yay! Friend! Friends are good! What’s their name?”

“Will,” Nico answered almost automatically.

Who else could he have said? He only knew like five other people’s names.

Jason nodded as if Nico just said something sagely. “Well, friends are good, and I’m happy.”

Jason started the car and pulled out of the school parking lot.

“Did you throw your contacts away?” Jason asked.

Nico sent a glare at him, but he was grateful for the change in conversation even if that change was this.

“Yes! How do people put things in their eyes? How did I put contacts in my eyes that morning? I don’t even remember why I own contacts!”

Jason shrugged. “I’ve never tried contacts, so I wouldn’t know.”

“Yeah...well…” Nico sighed.

“So did Friday end up being a good day?” Jason asked more softly.

“Hazel and I went and got ice cream.”

“But was it a good day?”

“There were tons of flavors. Hazel got apple pie, and I got watermelon. Who knew there was watermelon ice cream?”

Jason seemed to notice him avoiding the question, but he decided to play along. “Watermelon?”

“Yeah.”

“How’d it taste?”

“I don’t know.”

Jason frowned. “But you said you got watermelon.”

“I dropped it.” Nico shrugged.

He didn’t want to tell Jason what happened. Not yet. Nico knew that he trusted Jason with keeping things to himself more than anyone else he knew, but he didn’t want to talk about it. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe next week. But not today.

“Of course you did,” Jason responded shaking his head.

“I’ll try again next time.”

 

 

Nico couldn’t do this anymore. He really couldn’t. He couldn’t spend the rest of high school avoiding Will. But he couldn’t think of anything else he could do. He needed a solution, and he needed it soon.

So he ended up calling Valerie at 10:37 PST. AKA 1:37 EST.

Valerie picked up after three rings. “Nico?” Valerie said groggily. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know what to do,” he muttered.

“For what? What happened?”

“I…”

This was stupid. This was all stupid. What was he thinking? He woke her up in the middle of the night on a Monday...Tuesday just to tell her this.

“It’s nothing,” he sighed.

“No! You would not be waking me up in the middle of the night if it were nothing. You wouldn’t be panicking like this if it were nothing. I’m not going to try to force it out of you, but I want to help. I really do. Please let me.”

It seemed that Valerie’s words were able to crumble the last of his resolve since the words spilled from his mouth. “I found my soulmate.”

“Your soulmate?” Valerie repeated.

“Yes.”

Valerie stayed silent for a few moments before laughing. “Congratulations.”

No. No she didn’t get it.

“It’s not a good thing,” he stressed.

Valerie stopped laughing. “Why isn’t it?”

Nico started playing with the zipper on his jacket. “Why would it be a good thing?”

Valerie paused for a moment. “It’s your soulmate. Why is it not a good thing? You found the person who will make you happy. Are they a really bad person?”

Happy? Nico was definitely not happy right now. And Will bad?

“No. He’s a really good person.”

“Then what’s the problem.”

“ _I’m_ a bad person.”

“What? No! Nico you’re a wonderful person.”

“I’m not.”

He could feel tears prickling in his eyes. This was a mess. A huge mess.

“You are. If you were a terrible person, then your soulmate would also be a terrible person. He’s your soulmate. He’s perfect for you AND you’re perfect for him.”

“The universe can screw up. My parents weren’t soulmates.”

“And I’m sure they loved each other. But…”

Valerie stopped herself, but Nico could assume what she was going to say.

“But you think that Mama would have been happier with her soulmate and Dad is happier with Seph.”

“I...maybe.”

“You don’t think that good non-soulmate relationships exist?”

“I...That’s not the issue here. The issue is that you met your soulmate and you aren’t even trying to be with them.”

“I know it won’t end well.”

“No you don’t! Your insecurities are shaping your judgement. You’re an amazing person Neeks. I wouldn’t be your friend if you weren’t. And maybe your soulmate won’t see it. Maybe the two of you won’t click, but you won’t know that if you don’t try. Maybe it will end badly, but it’s also possible that the universe did choose correctly and you two will both make each other happy. You deserve to be happy Nico.”

“And my soulmate does too.”

“And maybe you’ll make him happy.”

“I can’t even make myself happy.”

He could hear Valerie sigh at the other end. “I think you should try. Maybe it won’t work out, but it’s better than living a life of what ifs. You deserve to be happy. You really do.”

 

 

When Nico went into his government class the next day, his teacher wasn’t there and the only available desk was the one next to Will. Nico wanted to just walk right back out of the classroom. The teacher wasn’t there, and maybe he could tell Dad that the substitute messed up.

But then Will called his name and patted the desk next to him, and he knew he was stuck. If he ran, then he would just leave Will sad and confused and delay their eventual conversation, but if he sat down, then he would have to talk to him and deal with the problem.

It took a couple seconds, but Nico eventually decided it would be best to sit down next to Will and get this over with. The sooner Will figures out how bad of a person he is, the better, no matter what Valerie said.

As soon as he sat down, Will set a blue bound notebook on his desk.

“What’s this?” Nico asked. He tried his best to sound normal. How is one supposed to speak to their soulmate as soon as they find out that they’re soulmates?

“Open it,” Will prompted. His voice and expression lacked emotion, so Nico couldn’t tell how Will was actually feeling.

Nico eyed the notebook confused, but did as he was told. On the first page of the notebook was a different date on each line and some words next to it. Nico noticed that every day was listed. Nico turned the page and noticed that it was the same thing. Nico quickly flipped through the entire book and noticed that each page was the exact same thing. Nico closed the book and opened back to the first page.

“What is this?” Nico asked again.

Will frowned. “Really? You don’t recognize any of them?” Will took the notebook from his hand and set it between them. He pointed to the first line. “That was the first line that ever showed up on my arm.”

 

“ _If I had to choose between this cupcake and you, I would choose you, and I love cupcakes.”_

 

Nico scrunched his eyebrows. “I do love cupcake, but I don’t remember saying that.”

Will moved his finger down a few lines. “How about this one?”

 

_“If I wanted the potato, I would have said yes the first time.”_

 

“I...I have no idea.” Nico shook his head. “Did you seriously write everything down?”

Nico couldn’t believe this. Will wrote down everything on his arm. He cared so much that he wrote down everything on his arm. He was so excited about his soulmate that he wrote down everything on his arm.

And the person behind it was him. This was all stupid. The universe was cruel.

Will nodded his head. “Every single line that ever showed up on my arm.” Will paused. “And on the days you didn’t say anything I just put the date.”

Nico flinched at those words. Will wrote down everything. Everything. Everything.

Nico flipped further in the book. Scanned over the words on the page.

 

_“The moon is not bigger than the sun.”_

_“Tu, amico mio, sei un idiota.”_

_"Giant Robot Space Lions.”_

_"Panama is not anywhere near England!”_

_"I hate history.”_

_“Iris flowers.”_

_“Can I stay in the car?”_

_Blank_

 

He wrote everything down. Everything.

“How much do you know then?” Nico whispered.

Will cast his eyes down. “About?”

Nico looked at him from the corner of his eye. “You had 113 lines.”

Will stared at him for a few seconds before sighing. “I don't know. I mean... obviously something happened. I'm not sure what, but I can take a couple guesses.”

Nico slammed the book shut. Damn it. Damn it. Damn it.

“Nico? Are you okay?” Will asked gently.

Of course he wasn't’ fucking okay. He could practically hear his heart beating in his chest and he could barely breathe.

Will knew. Of course he knew. Nico was an idiot. How the hell did he forget that Will would get his stupid words from _that?_

How did he forget? How?

But Will did know. He had pages worth of words to look over again and again and figure out. Cause Will was his soulmate, he knew. Maybe he didn't know everything, but he had Nico's words written down in a notebook, and he could read them and make a guess.

So Will knew and yesterday he still wanted to be friends and Nico really didn't understand. If Will knew, why didn’t he immediately hate him? Why didn’t he tell everyone? Why didn’t he complain to Nico about them being soulmates and how Will was unlucky?

“Nico? Hey. Come on. Say something.”

“What?” Nico choked out. It still felt like his lungs were being squeezed, but it wasn't too bad. It wasn't too bad.

Did the teacher come in yet? Nico didn't know.

Nico flipped through the book and ended up at what he wanted to see...or didn’t want to see.

 

_“Stop.”_

_“I hate this.”_

 " _Why?”_

 " _Please fermati!”_

_“Pain.”_

_“It hurts.”_

_"Vorrei essere morto.”_

 

This was bad. This was bad. Nico couldn't breathe and he needed out.

He felt his whole body heat up and his vision was blurry and he wanted to throw up and he wanted out. He wanted to run. He wanted to run far away and get away from everything. But he couldn't get up. His legs felt heavy, and he felt tired, and he couldn't get up. And he wanted to cry and he wanted to break down because Nico hated this so much, but he was in the middle of class and he couldn't go through that again. He didn't want to go through that again.

If Will didn't hate him already, he would definitely hate him if he broke down in the middle of government class. Will was his soulmate and he hated that he was, but he didn't want to lose him even if he didn't deserve him.

“Nico. Nico. Focus on my voice okay. Just focus on that. Stop thinking and focus on my voice.”

Will. Stupid stupid Will.

The world just really hated him. That must be it. Why couldn't the world make him get paired up with someone who was just as bad as him. Someone like...like _him._ Maybe that would have been better. Maybe it would have been better if Nico wasn't saved. Or if he died there. Or if he died before he met Will. Because then Will wouldn't have to deal with this.

“Focus on my voice. Stop thinking and focus on my voice. Come on Nico. I know you can do it. You may not believe me, but I think you're a great person Nico. I mean I got a small piece of your life everyday and from that I think you're a great person.”

Nico a great person? Ha! There might be some reality where that's true, but it wasn't this one. Nico was a complete mess who barely ever even remembered to pack his glasses, so he could actually read stuff. Nico was a burden on people that they worry about leaving alone. Nico was a freak who cut up his own soulmark because he couldn't deal with it. Nico was dirty. Dirty and used and rotten and broken and…

“And I don't know you well, but I want to. And I don't know the full extent of what happened, but I got a glimpse, and I think it's amazing that you're fighting so hard. And I think it's amazing that they didn't completely break you. And I think it's amazing that you're so strong.”

Strong? No. Nico was weak. What the hell did Will know?

“Focus on my voice Nico. Please.”

Nico’s lungs still burned and he still felt hot and he wanted to throw up, but he focused on Will's voice.

“Just breathe okay. Umm...follow my breathes.”

Nico knew what he supposed to do. Jason, Val, and his dad had calmed him down from enough panic attacks. He knew he was supposed to breathe. It didn't make it any easier.

“Umm...should I count. I'll count. Umm...in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7.”

Will continued to count him down. In. Out. In. Out.

Nico tried to focus on Will's voice. He tried not to think, but his stupid brain liked thinking a little too much.

Nico didn't know how long it took, but Nico eventually started to feel like he could actually breathe.

“You...you feeling better?” Will asked shakily.

Nico tried to nod his head, but his limbs felt heavy. It took a little longer for him to actually be able to talk.

“Better,” he rasped.

His throat felt dry and his chest hurt, but he could breathe.

“It's alright,” Will assured. “Take your time.”

“Where?”

“I brought you out into the hallway outside the classroom. Everyone inside was kinda freaking out.”

Nico groaned. Great. Everyone in government class saw him have a panic attack. Now they were going to tell everyone else and Nico would have to homeschool again.

This was all just great.

It took Nico another few minutes to be able to see clearly again and breathe normally. He could see the white and blue tiles he was sitting on and the posters hung around the hallway. The closed teacher workroom door and the bathrooms. The empty hallway and Will's worried face looking at the stairs behind him.

“I...I'm okay now,” Nico muttered.

Will quickly turned his head towards him. “You sure?”

Nico nodded. “Just tired. Thirsty maybe.”

“Thirsty? Hmm...I'll go get your water bottle.”

Nico shook his head. He didn't know how long they were out there, but he didn't want Will missing class just because he couldn't keep himself together.

“You...you can go back to class. I...I'll wait out here for a bit.”

Will looked at him confused before pursing his lips. “Yeah...no.” Will opened the door and walked into the classroom before Nico could protest.

Nico sighed and brought his legs up to his chest. He wrapped his arms around them and rested his forehead on his knees. Small comfort.

He could hear the door next to him squeak a few moments later and someone came and sat down next to him.

“Water?” Will asked.

Nico looked up at the red water bottle in his hand. Nico hesitantly took it and drank a sip. That seemed to make him more thirsty instead of less, so he ended up drinking half the bottle before he put it on the floor.

“You were clearly thirsty,” Will observed with a smile.

Nico didn't respond, but instead wrapped himself back into a ball. Will sighed and Nico could hear him move to sit next to him against the wall.

“What do you call a group of unorganized cats?” Will asked.

What?

“A cat-astrophe,” Will answered.  

A joke? Nico couldn’t help himself. He snickered. “That was bad.”

“What disease do you get when you decorate for Christmas? Tinselitis.”

“That fits your doctor dream.”

“Yeah. You...you never actually told me what you saw.”

Nico raised his head a bit. “There was a car crash. And then you were in the hospital and you didn't know if your mom would make it, but then she did and you were happy, but your hospital roommate didn't and you didn't think it was fair, so you decided to want to be a doctor.”

Will shifted so he was sitting cross legged. “I’m still scared of riding in cars. It happened almost five years ago and being in a car still scares me. Pathetic, right?”

Will was looking down again, and had a sad smile of his face. Nico didn't like it. He didn't like seeing Will sad. Not to mention that what he said was crazy.

“You're not pathetic for being scared of cars. You...you went through something terrible and it's okay to be scared.”

“Yeah. I'm working in it. I can go short distances now, but further than twenty minutes, and I start to panic.”

Nico smiled. “That's good progress.”

Will looked back towards him. “And you're allowed to be scared too.”

Nico blinked at him in confusion. Where had that come from?

“I…I don't know the full extent of what you went through. I...you might be my soulmate, but we met only a week ago, and it's fine if you don't trust me. But...that doesn't make you weak or anything. You're just scared of being hurt just like I am. And we're both working on it. I...I'm kinda hoping you trust me before I get over my car fear though,” Will ends with a nervous chuckle.

Nico stared at Will for a few seconds before turning away. He could feel tears forming in his eyes.

Will was too nice. Too nice. And Nico could tell that it wasn't pretend. This was the stupid guy he got words written on his arm from. Nico knew he was a good person.

And Nico didn't deserve it. He really didn't. But Nico wanted to be selfish and let him and Will be friends and see how it turned out. Nico wanted to trust him. He really did.

“Why did the bicycle fall over?” Nico asked.

“Huh?”

“Because it was two tired.”

“Hey! That's my joke,” Will complained.

“I’m the one who got the question on my arm with no punch line. I had to Google it.”

“Punch line,” Will said in between giggles. “Arm.”

Nico could feel a smile forming. “You're terrible.”

“I could be worse.”

“I doubt it.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Nico liked it. It was...peaceful. He wished they could stay like this. But Nico could see the clock and there were only seven minutes of class left.

Class was ninety minutes long. How long did Will spend trying to calm him down?  

“So... we're going to try this, right?” Will asked hesitantly.

Were they? The selfish part of Nico’s brain wanted to say yes. The hopeful part agreed. But the rest of him...the rest of him knew that Will would probably get tired of him after a couple of months. Maybe he could deal with one panic attack, but how would he react to worse?

Nico gave it a few of months at most. Six maybe. Six seemed like a good number. Will would leave him by the end of the sixth month. That would be March.

That's how long it would last. Nico was sure.

“So…umm...I don't want to rush anything,” Will continued, “But I want to try. And I think we should start at friends. If you want.”

Nico wanted to try. He wanted to at least be Will's friend. He really did.

And if they didn't work out as friends it would be okay. Nico would just have to try his best to not form any strong attachments. Then when Will got tired of him, he could easily cut him out of his life. That way it would hurt both of them less. Nico telling Will he didn't want to right now would probably hurt him, and Nico didn't want that.

“We'll see how it goes,” Nico finally answers.  See if you can handle me. “And see if it works out.”

Which it won't.

Will would never touch his soulmark and they would never bond as soulmates.

But Nico was going to pretend to try because that would hurt Will less.

 

“What's that?” Jason asked.

Nico looked down at the notebook in his hands. Will's notebook. The one where it had all of his lines in it. Will decided to give it to him after saying that he didn't need it anymore since he knew who he was now. He also told him that he made for him anyways.

“It's Will’s,” Nico responded.

Jason started backing out of the parking lot. “And why do you have it?”

“He gave it to me.”

“What's in it?”

“Every line he's gotten on his arm from day one to today.”

Jason raised his eyebrows. “He actually wrote them down? That's insane. Does he know who his soulmate is?”

Nico hesitated. “Yeah.”

“Then why did he give you his notebook? Shouldn't he give it to his soulmate? What are you going to do with it?”

Nico took a deep breathe.He couldn’t think of a time better than now.

“I'm his soulmate,” Nico admitted.

Jason immediately pulled into the the closest parking lot and parked the car.

“What?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Tu, amico mio, sei un idiota - You, my friend, are an idiot  
> *fermati! - Stop!  
> *Vorrei essere morto - I wish I was dead.  
> Now, I'm not fluent in Italian. So these may be wrong. If they are, I apologize. 
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!  
> Please leave comments and/or kudos if you did.  
> I love seeing comments! Thank you to all those who left comments in the other chapter!  
> If you have any suggestions or constructive criticism don't hesitate to comment.  
> Thank you for reading!  
> I hope you all have a great day or night wherever you are! :)


	6. The Universe Doesn't Seem to Like Will

“Umm...I found out who my soulmate is.” 

Will's Mom and step- dad immediately froze and looked towards him with wide eyes. 

His Mom was the first to speak. Her eyes were lit up with excitement and her mouth was curved up into a huge smile. 

“Well, tell us the story. How did it happen? What's their name? What do they look like? Don't just spring that on us and then stop talking.” 

His mom then immediately stuffed another bite of dinner into her mouth. When Will didn’t immediately answer, she motioned she arm towards Will to speak. 

“Ummm...well, his name's Nico. And he moved here and he just started at our school. I gave him a tour around the school. And he's in half my classes.”

“Does he seem nice?” 

Will nodded. “Yeah. Yeah he does.” 

She set her fork down on her plate and her smile bacem softer before she looked back towards Will.  

“That's good Will. I'm happy for you.” 

His step father nodded. 

Will sighed in relief. That went well. 

“Did you both bond?” 

He spoke too soon. 

“Umm...no. He touched mine, but I didn't see his.” 

His mother and stepfather both frowned. Will knew where this conversation was going. 

“Why not? If you both know you're soulmates, why does it matter? What's stopping you?” His mother asked. 

Her lips were pursed and eyebrows were furrowed while her fingers tapped at the dining table. Her long nails made a loud sound that both filled Will with worry and annoyance. 

“You've seen my soulmark Mom,” Will explained. “He...he hasn't had the greatest year, and he doesn't immediately want me to be stuck in his life. It'll probably take him a few months to warm up to me.” 

“A few months? You're going to wait that long? Why? You two are soulmates. Why does he think anything will go wrong?” 

“I just told you. He doesn't immediately trust me. He doesn't immediately trust anybody. And I'm okay with that. I want to take it slow too.” 

His mother sighed. “But you're soulmates.” 

“We're still people who met like a week ago.” 

Will was getting angry now. Maybe it wasn't best to be doing this during dinner, but Will couldn't understand why his mom was so adamant about this. Sure, most Soulmates immediately bonded, but a lot also wait. He didn't understand why his mom couldn't accept that. 

“You two are going to be stuck together for the rest of your lives anyways. Why does it matter when you bond?” His step father asked. 

Will groaned. Now Andy was going to argue with him too. 

“Yeah. Why does it matter? We're doing what we want,” Will snapped. 

Happiness wasn’t the same for everyone. This is what Will and Nico wanted and that’s what they were doing. Why were some people so against other people being happy? 

His mom sighed. “Listen, it doesn't matter. I was just curious. As long as you're happy it's fine.” A smile came back to his mom’s face. “When can we meet him?” 

Will looked at both his mom and Andy and sighed in relief. “I'm not sure. Soon maybe.” 

His mom smiled. “I can't wait. Maybe I can plan dinner.” 

Will nodded his head not knowing what to say. 

 

Nico didn’t come to PE the next day. Will was worried, but he pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind. Nico was probably sick or had a doctor's appointment or something. There was no need for him to be worried. 

Will's worries were settled when Nico walked in during the middle of Math. He gave the teacher a pass and walked over next to him. Nico waved towards him in greeting before sitting down next to him. 

“Where were you?” Will whispered. 

Their Math teacher had especially good hearing. He could probably hear the teacher next door giving her lecture. Hopefully he couldn’t hear Will’s whispering from the back of the classroom while he was talking. 

Nico shrugged in response to Will’s question before he reached into his backpack and pulled out his notebook and pencil. He looked over to the front with a blank expression and started lazily spinning his pencil in his hand. 

That wasn't good. Nico should have at least said something even if that something was not important or nowhere. Or at least Will liked to think that Nico was at least comfortable around him to try and give excuses. 

“Everything okay?” Will asked. 

Nico’s eyes flicked over to him, but he just shrugged again. 

Will frowned. Nico looked more tired than usual. He usually had an air of tiredness around him, but today, he looked like he didn’t get any sleep the previous night. He was blinking slowly and his entire being looked worn out.  

Then he noticed something else different. Something that he could start a conversation with and not just repeat himself. 

“Where are your glasses? Are you wearing contacts?” 

“Left them at home. Contacts are evil,” Nico replied monotonous. 

That made Will smile. At least he was talking to him again. And he had enough energy to tell Will about his opinions towards the eye lenses. 

“Contacts?” Will asked amused. 

Nico turned towards him with intense expression. “Yes. You have to put them on your eyes. You have to take this tiny piece of plastic and place it directly on your eyeball. That's crazy.” 

He was definitely passionate about contact lenses. And his voice had more emotion now. That was definitely a good thing. 

“Can you see without glasses?” 

“I can see far away really well. I just can't read.” 

“Why did…” 

He was interrupted by the teacher. Or maybe he should have just not started this conversation in the middle of class. 

“Will? What's the answer to this problem?” 

Will looked up at the board and saw three different problems written on it. Which problem was the teacher talking about? Actually, that wouldn’t matter. Will didn’t have the answer for any of them. This was just great. 

“17.8,” Nico whispered. 

“17.8,” Will immediately repeated. Any number was better than nothing. 

The teacher’s eyes widened, and he nodded his head. “Umm...yes. That's correct? Huh. Well, does anyone need me to go over the problem?” 

No one replied. The teacher nodded and picked up the eraser. “Alright let's move on.” 

The teacher started talking about the next set of problems and wrote down new information on the board. Will sighed in relief. 

“How?” Will whispered towards Nico in disbelief. 

Will hadn’t seen Nico write anything down, and he was talking to him the whole time. If Will wasn’t paying attention and Nico shouldn’t have been either. 

“I'm good at math. It wasn’t a hard problem.” 

Or maybe he could focus on the teacher and their conversation at the same time. 

Will looked back towards the front. Maybe it would be better if he paid attention for now and asked Nico questions later. He didn’t want to almost embarrass himself again. 

 

“So where were you?” Will asked. 

They were in the hallway walking to their next class. 

“Doctor,” Nico answered quickly. 

Will narrowed his eyes. “Which doctor?” 

Nico shrugged. “Doctor. Doctor.” 

Will frowned. “Thanks really specific,” he replied sarcastically. 

“Sorry.”He looked down at the floor with a frown.  

That was strange. When Will had first met Nico, he was quiet and barely even answered him with words. But Nico had opened up to him. He started talking, and he actually used sentences when he answered him. Will thought that finding out that they were soulmates would make Nico and him open up to each other more. Will expected that Nico would at least be acting the same as before. That's what Will wanted. He definitely didn't want Nico shutting him out. 

“Really Nico. You're worrying me. What's wrong?” Will pleaded. 

Nico turned towards him for a second before turning back towards the floor. “I was just at the doctor. Nothing's wrong,” Nico stressed. He tightened his grip on his backpack straps and started gnawing at his lip.

Will stared at him for a few moments. There was no way he was alright. And Nico definitely wasn't about to convince him that everything was fine. Will got Nico's words on his arm. And if that wasn't enough, he spent like an hour trying to calm him down from panic attack yesterday.

They arrived at their chemistry class, but instead of walking straight in, Will grabbed Nico's arm before he turned towards the classroom. Will just wanted to stop him. He wanted to make sure that everything was alright before they went inside. He didn't expect what actually happened. 

Nico immediately pulled his arm away from Will's grip and backed away. His eyes were wide and his mouth was slightly parted. “Please don't,” he whispered. 

Will's brain was going a mile per minute. He had no idea on what was happening, so he had no idea what to fix it. 

“Nico?” He murmured. 

Nico looked around panicked. His eyes eventually focused on Will and he looked like he was calming down. His look of fear was immediately replaced by anger.

“Don't just touch me like that,” he hissed. 

“Sorry,” Will apologized. 

Nico brushed his hand over his eyes. 

Did that make him cry? That was bad. That was really bad. 

“Do…” 

Nico interrupted his by taking a deep breathe. “I'm fine.” He turned towards the class. “Let's go inside or we're going to be late.” 

Nico turned and walked inside without another word. 

 

Dr. Fig was teaching again. Nico sat silently next to him. They talked all about chemical reactions today, but Will couldn't focus. He was more focused on what Nico was hiding from his than the difference between synthesis and decomposition. 

After class ended, Nico got up and walked out of the door without waiting for him. Will decided not to follow. Maybe he just needed some time to think and Will was annoying him. He walked to French alone. 

There teacher wasn't here today either. This substitute gave them a quiz about past tense conjunctions that they learned last year. After that, he let them do anything they wanted. Will spent the entire class trying to do his math homework, but he kept thinking back to Nico and trying to figure out what went wrong. 

Will left the classroom with no answers and only half of his homework done. 

He was walking home today. His house was only ten minutes away, so it was better just to walk than to take the bus. 

He wasn't expecting some dude to stop him. 

Some dude with short blonde hair, electric blue eyes, and a muscular build. The guy had to be at least four inches taller than him and he had a scar on his lip. Golden rimmed glasses framed him face and made him look less threatening, but Will did not want to get on this guy's bad side. 

“Hey! I'm looking for a guy named Will. Do you know him?” The guy asked. 

Will froze. 

Why was this guy looking for him specifically? Did Will do something wrong? Was he going to kill him? Will couldn't die now. The next season of one of his favorite shows was coming out soon.

“Umm...that's me?” Will didn't know whether or not he should have said that. Maybe he should have just said no and walked away. But the guy didn't look like he was about to kill someone. Then again, this could all be a farce. 

The guy, however, didn't start glaring at him and forming a fist. Instead, he started smiling. One of those excited smiles that made Will want to smile too. The guy in front of his definitely didn't look like a serial killer now.

“Really?” The guy asked. “That's great. My name’s Jason.” 

“Umm...hi?” Will really didn't know what was going on. He didn't know any Jason.

“I'm Nico's cousin,” Jason explained.  

Oh. Oh! 

“Uhhh…” 

Will didn't know what to say that. This was all really sudden. 

“Nico has to stay after, so I'm waiting for him. I thought maybe I could find you, and I guess I got lucky.” 

“Well, umm...nice to meet you.” 

Will usually prided himself on being good with strangers, but this entire conversation was turning out to be a trainwreck. How was one supposed to talk to their soulmate’s cousin in the school parking lot with no previous knowledge on the existence of said cousin? Especially a cousin that both looked extremely nice and prepared to kill anyone who did anything wrong at the same time. 

Jason laughed. That slightly settled Will's nerves. 

“Nice to meet you as well,” Jason greeted.

They fell into silence. 

This was extremely awkward. What was Will supposed to say now? It was like all of Will's experience in having conversations no longer existed. Maybe those brain cells were on vacation. 

“Was he alright today?” Jason asked. He still had a smile on his face, but it had a hint of sadness now. 

The question snapped Will's from his thoughts. 

“Nico?” Will asked, but it wasn't like Jason could be asking about anyone else.”He… he seemed a bit off today.” 

Jason sighed. “He had a really bad nightmare last night. I was hoping to get something out of him on the way home. Did he tell you anything?” 

Nightmare? That's probably why he was so jumpy today. Why didn't Will think of that? 

“So...he didn't go to the doctor?” 

“Doctor?” Jason asked confused. 

“He told me that he came late because he was at the doctor.” 

Jason stared at him confused for a few moments before shaking his head. 

Will frowned. So Nico had lied to him? Why couldn't he just tell Will that he hadn't slept well. 

“Don’t worry yourself Will,” Jason assured as if he could read Will's thoughts. “He's having a bad day. And he probably didn't want to worry you.” 

“He still worried me,” Will argued. 

“Nico is Nico. He probably just doesn't trust you or he's scared of burdening you.” 

Doesn't trust him? What did Will do to make Nico trust him so little that he couldn't even tell him that he had a nightmare. It wasn't like Will was going to make Nico tell him what his nightmare was about. 

“It's not anything against you,” Jason continued, “he doesn't really trust anyone. It's takes me a lot of effort to get him to talk and I've known him his entire life. He's a secretive person. It's not just you.” 

That helped reassure Will a little, but it still worried him. Nico was his soulmate. If he didn't trust him, then how would they develop a healthy relationship. 

Of course, it had only been like a week. Maybe if Will waited a couple months, Nico would start to open up to him. Will just had to be patient. He could do that.

“Then I'll try my best to have him trust me and make sure that he doesn't think that telling me something will make him a burden,” Will replied. 

Jason smiled. “Yeah. He might be a little hard to deal with at times, but he's a good person.” 

Will thought back to all the things that were written on his arm and the past week. Nico seemed like a good person, that was for sure. 

Will already knew that Nico didn't immediately trust him. He would be more surprised if he did. He didn't know how little he did though. 

But Will would work on it. Will would work on gaining Nico's trust and showing him that he wasn't planning to hurt him. Maybe his Mom thought that they were going to slowly, but Will didn't mind. Nico's happiness was worth as much as his own. It wouldn't help either of them if they forced each other to go faster.

“What are you two doing?” A voice called behind him. 

Will turned towards the voice on his left. 

“I was just talking to Will, Nico,” Jason explained. 

Nico’s eyebrows scrunched up and he frowned. “Sure.” 

He walked past him and towards the parking lot. 

“Come on Neeks. He's your soulmate. I had to talk to him. Scare him a little,” Jason whined. 

Will thought Jason was scary before, but now he was starting to see that he was completely harmless. 

“Don’t scare my soulmate Jason!” 

“Why not? You and I both know that I would definitely beat him in a fight.” 

But he wouldn't actually beat him up, right? It wasn't like Will was planning to do anything to hurt Nico. On purpose at least. 

“Take me home Jason! See you later Will!” Nico shouted as he walked away. 

Jason let out a short laugh. “Well, I'll see you later Will. Find me if you need anything!” 

With that Jason ran after Nico towards his car.

Will turned away and continued trekking towards his house. 

His conversation with Jason was actually pretty useful. Nico just needed some time to warm up to him and learn how to trust him. Will had to build this trust. The best way to do this was to let Nico and him learn more about each other. 

And Will had an idea on how to do just that. 

 

“What?” Nico asked confused. Will couldn't see what expression Nico was making since they were on the phone, but he could guess that he wasn't excited based on his voice. 

He seemed less tired though, so that was good.

“A date. Or hanging out. Whatever you want to call it,” Will explained. 

They wouldn't learn anything about each other by just seeing each other in a few classes. And said few classes didn't give them much room to just talk. Will decided that the best way to do that would be for the two of them to hang out outside of school. 

So a date...kinda.

“Ummm…” Nico hesitated. 

“If you're worried it doesn't have to be just us. You can have someone you trust come too. And I'm planning to take us somewhere with a lot of people,” Will added. 

Maybe it hurt a little that Nico didn't trust him, but he was entirely willing to accommodate until he was comfortable. And Will really wanted this to work. Both the hangout and their relationship. If the first hangout works out, it's more likely that the next few will work out too... hopefully. 

“It's fine. I'll go. You just caught me by surprise,” Nico answered. 

Will felt his entire chest light up in joy and a big smile spread across his face. “Yay! You'll love it.” 

 

“A shopping strip?” Nico asked amused. 

“Well, I was going to take you somewhere else, but it turned out that they were closed today for maintenance, so I decided to bring you here at the last moment.” 

Will wanted to take Nico to an observatory since he liked space (or at least it seemed like he did based on the stuff on Will's arm), but apparently something went wrong, and they were closed today. Maybe Will could take him there next time. Hopefully there would be a next time.

“So your great idea was here?” Nico asked with a laugh. 

Nico seemed to be more awake today, and him laughing was a good sign. 

“Instead of one place, you get like fifty,” Will explained. 

Nico looked him over for a few seconds expressionless. Will started feeling a bit self conscious. Maybe he should have just taken him to a movie like a normal person. 

“I think it’s a good idea,” Nico finally said. 

Will sighed in relief, and a smile spread across his face. “Of course you do. It is a wonderful idea. Now where should we go?” 

Nico pointed ahead to one of the shops immediately. Will looked towards where he was pointing, but he couldn't pinpoint a shop. 

“Which one?” He asked. 

Nico pouted (which was totally not cute) and walked past him. Will followed close behind. 

“Here,” Nico said pointing. 

Will looked inside the shop and smiled. “Of course.” 

“What?” 

“Nothing. Nothing. You love cupcakes. I know. It was the first thing on my arm.” 

Nico frowned for a second before turning away and entering the store. 

Will had no idea what he did wrong. He followed after Nico into the cake shop. 

It was named Sweet Moon and seemed to have a space theme. It was like it was nothing Will's poor planning, but at the same time trying to set things right. The right side wall had a painting of some Galaxy while the rest were painted a dark blue color. The floors were white and yellow and  some of then had tiny moons painted on them. There were small tables near the windows that were white and had stars scattered across them. The front had a glass chamber that held tons of different types of cupcakes. The cash register was near it. The wall behind it had dozens of different clocks hung on it, and each clock said a different time. 

Will wasn't entirely sure what the point was. 

The employee on duty was a guy a bit taller than Will, and more well built. He had Sandy blonde hair and blue eyes. He kinda looked like Jason. Kinda. 

When he looked over towards them he gave them a smirk that made his eyes twinkle. He looked college age, and he was wearing what seemed to be the shop’s uniform: a navy blue t-shirt and black pants. 

“Hey! I'm Luke. What can I get you?” The cashier asked. 

Will looked towards Nico who was staring at the display case with a huge smile. His eyes were sparkling like the stars in the Galaxy picture on the wall. 

“There are so many,” he whispered. 

That made Luke laugh. “First time here?” 

“Yeah,” Will answered in Nico's place. He seemed a bit distracted by the rows of cupcakes. 

“Well,” Luke started as he walked towards the display case. “I would recommend the orange cream cupcake. It's the most popular one here. But my favorite is the one called Timeless Night.” He pointed to a cupcake with dark blue icing and little circular sprinkles. “It's a vanilla sponge cake with cream inside. Shop secret recipe. And buttercream frosting on top.” 

Nico stared at the cupcake before looking around the case at the others. His eyebrows scrunched up and he started biting his lip. 

“How much does a box of six cost?” Will asked. Maybe having more options would make this easier for him. 

“$6.00,” Luke replied. 

That made Nico look up and frown. “No it doesn't. The menu behind you says $5.30.” 

Luke looked behind him and whispered something under his breath. “I was including tax and then rounding,” Luke replied with a forced smile.

That was odd. Very odd.

“Well, let's get that,” Will said trying to diffuse the awkward atmosphere. “We can get six different cupcakes and then split them in half.” 

Nico nodded. “We can both pick three.” 

They ended up getting the orange cream and Timeless Night cupcakes Luke mentioned as well as a Raspberry Blackberry Cheesecake cupcake, Vanilla Coconut Cream Pie cupcake, this one called Full Moon that was a lemon cupcake with vanilla cream filling buttercream frosting and white chocolate pieces, as well as a brownie cupcake for Jason that they decided he deserved for being their driver. According to Nico, Jason really liked brownies. 

They decided that the would wait to eat them until after lunch, so Will carried the bag with the cupcake box as they wandered around looking for another interesting store. 

Will ended up finding a clothing store that had clothes that he thought looked nice on display, so he dragged Nico inside despite his protests. That led to Will finding a billion outfits and making Nico try some on while trying on the other ones himself. 

Some outfits looked completely ridiculous and gave them both a good laugh. Will made Nico put on an outfit that made him look like a penguin. He got his revenge by having Will wear one that looked like a fire hydrant. 

Other outfits actually looked really nice and damn did they look good. How did Will get lucky enough to get Nico as his soulmate. He was a bit on the skinny side, but he also had lean muscles and a good figure. He was absolutely adorable in the cupcake shop and now he was crazy good looking.

Will ended up really liking one of the outfits he tried on, but it cost more than he could spend, so he had to sadly let it go. Nico offered to pay for him, but Will told him that he didn't want him to do that. It would make him feel bad if Nico bought him something that expensive. Nico glared at him and bought it for him anyways along with an outfit that Will thought looked especially good on Nico.

Nico decided to carry the bags and they looked for a new store to go to. They went through an antique shop that bored them both and a magic shop that had too many candles burning. They had to get out of there quickly since Nico was coughing so much Will was got scared that he would stop breathing. That led them to a bookstore called New World.

It was a decent sized shop lined with bookshelves. Each bookshelf had a label on it, so everyone would know what books would be there. There was also a small section with toys and games as well. The scent of hot chocolate and coffee came from the small cafe in the corner and filled the store. The walls were painted a light yellow and the floors and bookshelves were light brown wood. All of that provided a cozy atmosphere. 

“You wanna get a drink and eat our cupcakes and then eat a late lunch?” Nico asked pointing to the cafe. 

Will checked his watch. It was 1:34. Nico and him had reached the shopping strip at 11:30. They should probably rest a bit and eat a little. 

Especially after Nico's coughing fit. Hi voice still sounded raspy. 

“Sounds like a plan,” Will answered. 

They walked over to the cafe and ordered two hot chocolates (Nico of course got extra whipped cream) and found a table to sit at. There were only a few other people in the bookstore, so it wasn't very hard. 

“You're going to get a sugar high,” Will chided. 

Nico shrugged. “Worth it.” 

Will shook his head and pulled out the box of cupcakes. He should probably be discouraging this, but Nico looked happy and Will wasn't about to ruin that. Will grabbed the plastic knife he got from the cafe employee instead.

“Which one first?” Will asked. 

Nico turned his eyes towards the box as he was taking a sip of his hot chocolate. “Close your eyes and stab one and see which one it is.” 

Will found that idea weird, but he decided to go with it. He ended up picking the Full Moon cupcake. He cut it in half and gave a piece to Nico. He happily took it and took a bite. 

Nico's eyes sparkled and a huge smile appeared on his face. “This is great!” 

Will was pretty sure that this was the first time he had seen Nico with such a huge smile. He had to get him cupcakes more often. 

They ate two more of the cupcakes: the cheesecake one and the one Luke recommended. Will's favorite so far was the New Moon one. Nico seemed to love Timeless Night. 

They decided to save the other two for after lunch, so they grabbed their half finished drinks and started looking around the bookstore. They ended up playing a game where they would open random books to random pages and see who would get the funniest page. Some pages were boring, but others were hilarious like the one that had a scene where the main characters beat a dolphin pirate gang with a can of diet Coke. The romance novels were especially interesting. 

Once they got through all of the book sections, they decided to leave. They were passing by the toy shelf when Nico stopped and picked something up. Will walked over to him and looked at what he was holding. 

Mythomagic cards? Will had seen other people play that game, but he had never played it himself. It looked interesting, but he didn't have the motivation to sit down and learn how to play. 

“Do you play?” Will asked. 

Nico immediately put the box back and turned away. “Umm...I used to. Uh…” 

He had a tinge of pink on his cheeks and he was playing with his fingers. 

Will grabbed the card box and walked up to the cash register to buy it. 

“Wait Will,” Nico called. 

Will didn't stop. There wasn't anyone else at the register, so Will was able to easily buy the cards. He handed the bag to Nico. 

“Why?” Nico whined, but he also sounded genuinely confused. 

“It looked like you wanted them. And I've always wanted to learn how to play, so you better teach me.” 

Nico looked down at the bag and then back at Will. A small smile spread across his face. 

“Thank you,” he said. 

Will nodded. 

It was nice seeing Nico happy. He had a good smile, and his eyes also seemed brighter when he was. Will wished there was a way to have Nico be happy forever, but sadly it wasn't in his control. 

Sadly, the universe also seemed to know what he was thinking and decided that Will wasn't allowed to get what he wanted. Will really hated the universe sometimes.

“Nico?” A middle age man called as he walked into the store. 

He had short flaxen colored hair and bright green eyes. There was a bit of a stubble of his face, and he had a decent build. His smile seemed to radiate calmness and security, but instead of being happy to see him, Nico froze and the smile on his face turned into a look of fear. 

Will guessed that the man’s friendly look was all pretend. 

“Hello,” Will replied. It didn't seem like Nico was going to. 

“Hello to you as well. I'm Kevin Henryson. I was Nico’s biology teacher last year. I never thought that I'd run into him again  while I'm visiting my in-laws.” 

Nico's teacher? Why is Nico scared of his Freshman Biology teacher? But he must have done something if Nico's this scared of him. 

“Oh. I'm Will. Great big coincidence, huh?” 

“It sure is. How have things been going Nico?” 

Nico flinched at the words, but he looked up. “Fine,” he answered quickly. 

Nico definitely didn't look alright. He was shaking in fear. It wasn't easily noticeable, but Will could tell from so close. 

“Really?” Mr. Henryson asked with a raised eyebrow. “You definitely didn't seem fine when you left.” 

That seemed to hit one of Nico's chords since he no longer looked scared, but instead sent a glare towards the teacher and curled his hands into fists around the the shopping bags. 

“Like you care,” Nico growled. 

Mr. Henryson looked like he expected such a reaction. He didn't even flinch. 

“Of course I care. You're one of my previous students.” 

That seemed to make Nico even more furious since he was now fuming and his eyes were beginning to look like his dad's dark abyss. 

“You didn't care about me when you were my teacher. Why would you care about me now? The only person  _ you've _ ever cared about is yourself.” 

Mr. Henryson smirked and he started to look a little bit twisted. 

“Okay. Maybe I don't care. But I can assure you that I'm not lying when I say that I do miss you.” 

At that Nico completely froze and an expressionless look appeared on his face. Will could see that his eyes were filling with tears. 

What was going on? 

“I hate you. I fucking hate you. I hope you suffer.” 

With that Nico stormed out of the bookstore. Will was about to go after him, but Mr. Henryson put a strong hand on his shoulder. 

“What?” Will hissed. 

“Is he your friend?” 

“Yeah. And he's my soulmate too. And I kinda don't want something bad to happen to him because he's distressed. So can I go?” 

“I feel very sorry you,” Mr. Henryson said sadly as he removed his hand from Will's shoulder. 

That caught Will's attention.

“Sorry for what?” 

“That  _ he's  _ your soulmates. You were probably looking forward to a future with your soulmate, but then you got stuck with him. You seem like a nice young man. Handsome too. It would be better for you to forget him and find someone else. You'll get tired of him soon anyways.” 

“Excuse me. What?” Will hissed in reply. 

What the hell was this guy's problem? Will took everything back about this guy looking nice. He was a jerk. What did he have against Nico? 

“I don't know what Nico has told you, but you won't like it.” 

“Yeah. I probably won't. I won't like what happened to him! I won't like how much he's had to deal with! I won't like the people that made him suffer and have to go through what he did! But I won't hate him for being hurt about it! And I definitely won't hate him because he had to go through it! In all honesty, the only person I hate right now is you!” 

Will couldn't stand it anymore more. He ran out of the book store. 

Too much was going on. Will didn't know what Mr. Henryson was talking about. He didn't know why he thought Nico would be a terrible soulmate. He didn't know why what Mr. Henryson said made Nico run. But most importantly, he didn't know where Nico was. 

If Nico and Will had bonded, he would at least know if he was injured or not. But they weren't, and Will had no time for ifs. He had to find Nico. 

He started asking people around and ran into every shop in his path. After thirty minutes of no luck, Will felt like he was going to cry. For all Will knew, Nico went the opposite way. He could be anywhere, and Will had no leads. 

After an hour, Will was about to call Jason. He decided that he would try one more shop. 

He walked into the next shop, an instrument shop called Airy Notes. 

“Welcome to Airy Notes,” a saleslady said. “How can I help you?” 

Will sighed. “I'm looking for a boy my age. He's a shorter than me and has dark hair and eyes. He's wearing a blue sweatshirt and black pants and...purple converse I think. He has a scar under his eye and on his forehead. And…”

“Do you mean him?” She pointed to the corner near the guitars. 

Sure enough, it was Nico. He was sitting against the wall with his legs up to his chest and his arm furiously rubbing his eyes. 

Will was about to collapse in relief. 

“He came in here all panicked, so I let him stay. He's been here for about thirty minutes.”

“Yeah. Yeah that's him. Thank you.” 

“I hope he's alright.” 

Will nodded and walked past her towards Nico. He crouched down and sat crossed legged in front of him. Nico looked up at him for a second before looking down and burying his face into his arms. 

“Nico,” Will said gently. 

He didn't respond. Will sighed. 

He knew this wasn't going to be easy. Nico wasn't immediately going to be alright just because Will found him. 

Nico needed some time to calm down and get his thoughts in order. Running around in a frenzy probably didn't help him do that. 

Will picked up one of the guitars next to him and started playing a slow song that his mom wrote. Will didn't remember the lyrics, but he remembered the chords. It made him think of something sad in the beginning, but the ending sounded more happy. It was a hopeful tune, and he hoped that maybe that message would help Nico think. 

At the end of the song Nico lifted his head up and stared at the guitar in Will's hands. 

“That was really nice,” he whispered. 

“My mom wrote it. She wanted to be a country singer when she was in high school. But well, then she had me, and she put that dream on hold. She still writes songs and performs in small places though.” 

“Then both your mom and you are talented.” 

Will could feel his face flush. “It's not that hard to play once you learn the song. Writing a song is much harder. I don't think I'll ever be good enough to do that.” 

Nico hummed. “Do you like playing the guitar?” 

Will nodded. “I do.” 

“Then that's enough. You don't have to be the best to have a little talent.” 

A smile came to Will's face. His mom as well his biological dad were both talented in music. Will? Not as much. He loved playing the guitar and he could whistle really well, but he didn't have any musical talents beyond that. It always made him feel a bit weird. 

But Nico telling him that he was good enough made his chest feel lighter. He felt like he wanted to play again and again as long as Nico kept telling him it was good. 

The he remembered why they were even sitting on the floors of a music shop. 

“Thanks. But I'm supposed to be cheering you up.” 

The small smile that appeared on Nico's face was replaced with a grimace. 

“He was my bio teacher last year.” 

“He told me that. I'm more curious about why you hate him.” 

Nico opened his mouth for a second before immediately closing it. 

“He...I…” Nico took a deep breath. “I would have to tell you about everything else if I were to tell you about him and…” 

Will cut him off. “You don't have to tell me until you feel ready. I don't want to force you. I'm worried, but I don't want you doing anything you don't want to.”

Nico shook his head. “No...I. You're my soulmate. You...you deserve to know at least the basics. I don't think I'm ready to talk about anything specific, but...but you deserve to know.” 

Will gave Nico a sad smile. “If you think you're ready, then I'll listen. But don't force yourself. I don't mind waiting.” 

“I don't want to wait too long and then have you leave.” 

What? 

“Why would I leave you?” 

“I'm messed up and hard to deal with.” 

“Nico…” 

“Really. You...you deserve better. I'm such as mess. Even if you don't think so now, I know you'll get tired of me. It would be better for both of us if you realized that now.” 

_ It would be better for you to forget him and find someone else. You'll get tired of him soon anyways. _

Why would...why would anyone want Nico to think that he didn't deserve to have Will as a soulmate? Why would anyone hurt Nico so much that they would make him believe it? 

“I had fun today,” Will adds. 

Nivo paused for a moment  before replying. “Me too. A lot of fun.” 

“I want to do it again.” 

“What?” 

“I want to hang out with you again. I want to mess around with you again. I want to see you happy again. I want to see that expression you made in the cupcake shop again.” 

“But…” 

“No buts! Every idiot who ever told you that you weren't good enough for a soulmate was wrong and just wanted to hurt you. I'm your soulmate and I'm telling you this.” 

“You barely know me.” 

“Maybe! But I know you well enough to know that you are entirely worthy of being loved. I don't know your past. And I don't know what’s going to happen in the future. But I'm with you right here and now and I can promise you that I think that you're worthy of love. And I know that whatever happened in your past won't make me wish that we weren't soulmates.” 

“I haven't told you yet.” 

“I already know.” 

Nico frowned. “We'll see.” 

“Yep. You'll see how you're wrong.” 

Nico's expression morphed through a dozen emotions before he settled on looking conflicted. 

“Can...can we go to my house. I'd rather tell you somewhere more private.” 

“Of course. I'll call Jason and tell him to pick us up. In the meantime, do you want lunch?” 

Nico frowned but nodded his head and stood up. 

Will didn't know what Nico was going to tell him. He had a general idea, but a bunch of blanks were about to be filled in. Will was a curious person by nature, so he was glad that he was finally getting the full story. Not only would it quench his curiosity, but it would also let him better understand Nico. That was definitely more important. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot has been happening the past few days, but I finished this chapter, and I read over it, and I have no motivation to do it again.  
> Hopefully it's good enough.
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed!  
> Please leave comments and/or kudos if you did!  
> I love seeing comments!  
> Constructive criticism and suggestions are also welcome  
> Thank you all for reading!!!  
> I hope you all have a great day/night wherever you are


	7. Well, I Guess We're Having This Talk Now

Nico was an idiot. He didn't know what demon possessed him to tell Will how pathetic he felt and then decide that he wanted to tell him everything too. This want part of the plan. Or at least it wasn’t in the plan this early. 

They were just supposed to have a fun day out. Nothing bad was supposed to happen. Nico had to tell himself that a hundred times to actually get enough energy to leave the house. Of course, the universe didn't care about Nico, so something bad did happen. 

Of all people, he just had to see Mr. Henryson there. Maybe Dr. Fig a menace, but Mr. Henryson was an evil creature from the pits of hell. He’d rather have Dr. Fig be his teacher for all his subjects for the rest of high school than ever have to be in a classroom with Mr Henryson again. 

Why did he have to go into the same bookstore they were in at the  _ same _ time? What were the chances of that? 

And Nico couldn't keep himself calm, so he ran because he couldn't before and now he could, so he decided to just run from his problems even though he knew he really shouldn't have, but he could, so he ran ran ran. And he kept running until he could barely breathe and his legs felt like jelly. He ended up walking into the closest store and then just curled up into a ball and tried not to cry. 

Of course Will had to find him. And of course Nico had to still be upset and say things he wasn’t supposed to say. And of course now Will was trying to be nice. 

But maybe this was a good thing. Maybe it was a good thing that he was telling Will now. If Will was going to leave him, it would be better if it happened sooner rather than later. 

Because...Nico had fun today. He had lots of fun. And he knew that he was getting attached. And he knew that if they kept this up for months he would definitely get attached, and it would hurt him too much when Will would leave. So it was for the best. The sooner Will knows the better. 

That didn't ease Nico's nerves though. The rational and emotional parts of his brain never seemed to get along. That was why Will and Nico were sitting on the rug in Nico's bedroom with neither of them talking. 

Nico had placed the stuff he bought of his bed while Will had his bags right next to him. They had given Jason his cupcake and seeing how happy Jason became when he saw it slightly improved Nico's mood. The rest of the uneaten cupcakes were now in the fridge. 

Nico and Will had been sitting there in silence for about ten minutes. The only sound they could hear was coming from Hazel's room. Persephone and her were playing some game. Nico wasn't sure what. He wasn't paying attention. He was trying to decide how he was going to explain this. 

He looked over to Will. He was looking around his room with an awkward expression. Will seemed to notice him staring since he looked over at Nico who immediately turned towards his lap. 

“You don't have to today if you don't want to,” Will reassured. 

Nico shakes his head. 

He had to do this today. If he didn't do this today, then he would hold it off for too long. It wouldn't be fair to Will and it would hurt Nico too much. 

“Last year,” Nico says getting Will's attention. “My cousin Percy brought me to a party with him. I didn't want to go, but he dragged me along anyways. He said I needed to socialize more. I probably did. After my sister died, I wasn't very focused on making new friends. I had Valerie and Percy and Jason and Hazel and my parents and that was enough. I wasn't alone all the time.” 

Nico paused. He was going on a tangent. Will didn't care about any of this. 

“What was her name?” Will asked. 

“Huh?” 

“Your sister. What was her name?”

Nico tilted his head in confusion. “Bianca. She was two years older than me. She died when I was twelve, and she was fourteen. It was a car crash. She was on her way to an archery competition. My dad and I went separately. We got there only to find that she wasn't there and later found out she was dead.” 

Will’s face twisted into sadness. Nico didn't like that expression. “I'm sorry. I'm sure she was a great sister.” 

“She was,” Nico replied wistfully. “I still miss her.” 

“And you should. She was important to you.” 

Nico nodded. “That's not what I was trying to tell you about though.” 

“Right. Your cousin brought you to a party.” 

“Ummm….yeah. And I was told to socialize. He went off to hang out with his soulmate Annabeth and I was left on my own.” 

“That...that doesn't sound very responsible.” 

Nico started rubbing his hands together. He needed to do something with them calm his nerves. 

“Yeah. But...he didn't really think anything bad would happen. He knew every student in our high school and he thought all of them were good people. Turned out he was wrong.”

Nico would be lying if he said he never blamed Percy. All of this would have been avoided if Percy had just left him at home and let him and Val have their movie night. He could even go further back and say that none of this would have happened if Percy hadn't crashed the car he was driving. Or if he never volunteered to drive Bianca in the first place. He had just gotten his license and he was a bit too reckless. 

Nico knew that it want entirely Percy's fault though. It was just a lot of bad luck. Seeing how guilty Percy was over it didn't help him stay mad. His father was different story, however, but he learned to hide it better over the months. 

“I explored the house,” Nico continued. “In the end, I ended up sitting on a counter in the kitchen and hoped that we would leave soon. I wasn't interested in drinking or anything else there.” 

Nico shifted himself, so he was in a more comfortable position leaning against his bed. 

“This guy showed up. He said his name was…” He paused. Just say it Nico. He was going to have to eventually. “Mark. He seemed nice. We talked and he got me a drink. I didn't really want to drink it, but I thought one sip wouldn't cause any harm. He said he needed to talk to someone, and I was left on my own. I started feeling sick and figured that wasn't normal so I texted Percy, but he didn't reply. Mark ended up finding me and I was too far gone, so I let him take me to his car. He said he was going to find Percy. I passed out.” 

“You got drugged?” Will whispered. 

“Seems so. I was apparently out of it for an entire day.” 

Will looked down towards his arm. “My arm was blank.” 

“Can't talk when your unconscious.” 

Nico looked past Will towards Hazel’s pictures and the photographs hanging on the wall. 

“It was only one sip. That's what you meant?” Will asked looking back up at Nico. 

“Huh?” 

“It said that. On my arm.” 

Nico pursed his lips. “Did it?” 

Will nodded. 

Nico should have expected that. He didn't say much that day. Not like he could have. 

“I woke up handcuffed to a bed with layers of duct tape over my mouth and a really bad headache,” Nico continues.  

He licked his lips. How was he supposed to say this? 

“Mark was there. He was the only one. He...he said…” 

Nio couldn't do this. He couldn't do this. He didn't want to think about this. He wanted to go back to eating cupcakes with Will in the bookstore cafe. If Nico told Will what happened now...he would probably never eat cupcakes with him again. 

And Nico didn't want that. 

But it was for the best. 

But it's not what he wanted. 

But what he wanted didn't matter. 

“He said he wanted to prep me and be my first before he made some money of off me,” Nico finished quickly.

Will's looked at Nico confused for a few seconds before his eyes widened in understanding. 

Nico could feel his breathing getting faster and his chest tightening. He wanted to throw up. His eyes were welling up with tears and he was forcing down a sob. He wanted to hit himself in the head with a brick, so he would forget. 

“113 days,” Nico hisses. “113. That's almost four months. I was locked up in that stupid room and was used by so many people I lost count.” 

Nico could feel a tear sliding down his cheek and a sob escaped his mouth. He took a deep breath. He needed to control himself. 

“It was bad. It was so bad.” 

He dug his nails into his arms and looked at Will. He still had a shocked look on his face, but it was slowly morphing into worry. 

“Mr. Henryson.. the guy we saw at the bookstore. He was one of my “customers”,” Nico spat. “I thought he was a great teacher. He was nice and funny and I understood everything he taught us. But then he shows up on day and I think 'maybe he'll call the police.’ But no!” 

Nico dinks his nails deeper into his skin. He was going to start bleeding at this rate. “He said that if he called the police, he would get in trouble and he didn't want that. So he fucked me and left. And he came back. Again. And again. And again. And every time he laughed at me! And he said I deserved it! And that wasn't even the worst!” 

Nico was yelling by this point, but he couldn't make himself stop. Angry tears were flowing down his cheeks and he just wanted to shout and punch something. 

“There were crazy sadists who enjoyed torturing me. The cut me up. They choked me. They made me go days without eating. The drowned me. They broke my bones. They straight up beat me!” 

Nico's hands were flying everywhere now and his breathes and words were fast. 

“When...someone apparently had a heart and called the police. I was taken to a hospital. There was so much wrong with me. They purposely rebroke some of my bones so they would heal properly. My insides were a complete mess too. They were surprised I wasn't dead!” 

Nico gripped his hair with his hands and started pulling it. A few laughs spilled out of his mouth along with a couple sobs. 

This was too much. This was too much. 

He needed to control his breathing. 

He was going to pass out if he didn't. 

Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. 

Will scooted closer to him and rested a gentle hand on Nico's cheek. Nico physically recoiled. Will immediately moved his hand away. 

“Shhh. You're safe. Take deep breaths Nico. It's okay. You're okay.” 

Was Nico okay? He didn't really think so. 

Nico didn't know how long it took for his breaths to even out and his chest to not feel compressed. Tears were still running down his cheeks, but he didn't feel like he was dying. 

Maybe dying would be a good thing. He wouldn't have to deal with any of this anymore. And Will wouldn't even have to feel bad for leaving him. 

But he couldn't leave Hazel. Hazel had broken down in tears when she saw him in the hospital. He couldn't die and leave her to deal with it. And Percy. He couldn't make him feel even more guilty than he already was. And Jason would feel bad and think it's his fault. And he couldn't let his dad lose another child. 

“I...I'm sorry,” Nico stammered. “You...you can l...leave if you want.” 

Will frowned. “Why would I leave?” He asked gently. 

Why would he not? 

“Cause I'm hard to deal with and I'm a broken, used, pathetic mess. You don't deserve this.” 

Will expression turned dark like he was angry, and Nico turned away. Of course he’d be angry. The universe wasn’t being very nice to him by making Nico his soulmate.

Will opened his mouth, and Nico was ready for him to yell. He was surprised when that’s not what happened. 

“First of all, you're not broken,” Will stressed. “If you were broken you wouldn't be fighting like this. You wouldn't be trying to keep going. You would have given up. And you've been through so much. It amazes me that you're still fighting and haven't given up. You're strong Nico. You're really strong.” 

What was Will talking about? He said that before too. That he thought Nico was strong. That didn't make any sense. If Nico was strong, he would be better. He would have moved past all of the shit in his life. He wouldn't have panic attacks and nightmares and freak out when he had to talk about it. He wouldn’t be the mess he is. 

“Second,” Will continued. “ In six more years all of your cells from last year will be replaced and it'll be like you have a brand new body. So at that point it'll be like you weren't used.” A gentle smile appeared on Will's face. “Not that it matters to me. Of course I care that you were hurt, but I’m not going to hate you because you...you got raped. It wasn't your fault. You didn't want it to happen. And even if your first time wasn't with me, I wouldn't care. You're not defined by how many people you've been with in bed. You're defined by your personality which I like.” 

But...but all the customers and the people in the hospital and the people at school, they thought differently. They kept saying that they were sorry for his soulmate. They told him that he would be lucky if his soulmate still treated him properly. They told him horror stories of other who were like him. 

Nico didn't expect Will to go as far as some of the people in the stories, but he didn't expect Will to be okay with it. 

“Third, like I've already said you're going through a lot and that doesn’t make you pathetic. You're absolutely amazing. 

“Fourth. Maybe you're a mess. But that isn't a bad thing. You're allowed to be a mess. Everything is too much and you don't know how to deal with it right now, so everything is a mess. And that's okay.” 

“That's not okay!” 

Why didn't Will get it? Why couldn't Will see how much if a burden he was? Why couldn't Will see how annoying he is and how much he deserved to be hated? 

“It's not okay,” Nico repeated softer. “I..I get nightmares every night.” 

“I would be more surprised if you didn't. And I don't mind. It'll hurt me seeing you like that more than it’ll ever annoy me. I want to hug all your nightmares away and talk you through them. And hopefully someday they'll stop, so you can get a good night's sleep.” 

“I get panic attacks and worry too much.” 

“I know. I've seen two of them now. And I'm not an expert and calming you down, but I'll become one if it helps ease your suffering. And hopefully we can work together on your anxiety.” 

“I push people away.” 

“I can see that. You're clearly trying to push me away. Good thing I’m stubborn.”

“I...I cut up my soulmark. I have it bandaged up so I purposely can't see it.”

That made Will’s gentle smile transform back into a sad one. 

So that was it. That was what Will needed to hear to see how terrible Nico was. He didn't even care about his soulmark. Of course he would be a terrible soulmate. 

“That okay,” Will said instead. “And I'll help you bandage up all the cuts until I can work with you to stop. You don't deserve to think that you need to hurt yourself.”

It’s not okay. It’s not okay. It’s not okay. 

“I get angry easily.” 

“And I'll probably get angry too. We wouldn't be human if we didn't. We just need to control it and express it in healthy ways. And we'll work on that together.” 

Why couldn't Will just give up? He was going to get tired in a few months. Why couldn't he see that? 

But what if he doesn't?

He will. 

But if he doesn't? What if he doesn't and everything he's saying lasts? Wouldn't that be great? 

Yeah. Too great. And that's why it's not going to happen.

“It's not going to work Will.” 

Will gave him a frustrated expression and groaned. “Why Nico? I'm trying to tell you that you're worrying over nothing. What else is worrying you? I probably won't hate you for that either.” 

“Maybe not now. But you will.” 

“Seriously? Why Nico? What's so bad about you?” 

“I just told you!” 

Will opened his mouth, but then closed it and took a deep breathe. 

This. This was the reason it wouldn't work. Nico was already frustrating him. He would get tired of it eventually. 

“Look Nico. What if...what if I went through exactly what you went through. Would you hate me?”

That was an easy question. 

“Of course not.” 

Will nodded. “So then what makes you so unlikeable? If I'm an easy of course not, why aren't you?” 

Nico opened his mouth to reply, but Will cut him off before he could. 

“And don't you dare say ‘it's because it's you’. That isn't an answer.” 

What made it different than? What really made Nico think this wouldn't work? If he thought it would be fine the other way around, why wasn't it fine this way? 

Will sighed. “You think too lowly of yourself Nico. I had a lot of fun today, and, well, I want to do it again.” 

Nico remained silent. 

What made Will special and him not? He needed to pinpoint it and tell Will. But he couldn't think of anything. He couldn't think of  _ anything _ . 

“I'm scared,” Nico whispered. 

Will stared at him for a few seconds before before setting his hands on Nico’s which were now resting on his lap. 

“Of course you are. You keep being betrayed by people who you thought you could trust. It’s alright to be scared that I will too. It’s the same as me being scared of getting in another car accident. And like I told you before, if it’s alright for me to be scared, it’s alright for you to be scared.” 

“But...but…” 

Nico was confused. This wasn’t what was supposed to happen. Everyone had told him otherwise. Mark, Mr. Henryson, all the customers, the nurses and doctors at the hospital, the people at school. Almost everyone had said that this wasn’t how this was supposed to turn out. Will was supposed to try and get away from him. Nico even gave him the opportunity to. Why wasn’t he? 

“I’m not going to force you to do anything,” Will continued. “But I...I think we should try this. You’re going through a lot, and you’re dealing with a lot, so I’m not going to make you do anything you aren’t ready for. If you want to wait a few months for me to touch you’re soulmark, it’s fine. If you don’t want to do any coupley stuff and just want to hang out as friends, it’s fine. I don’t want to go to fast either. I want to get your trust before we decide on anything permanent. And maybe in the end it won’t work out, but I’d rather have it not work out because we don’t click instead of both of us giving up before we try. It might end badly, but there’s also the chance that it won’t. And I...I think it’s worth it to try. I want to try.” 

Wil had said that before too. That he wanted to try. And Nico had agreed. He thought Will finding out the truth would make him give up. But it didn’t. Maybe...maybe it would work out. 

_ Don’t be silly Nico. Or course it won’t work. He’ll get tired of you. _

But...he hasn’t given up yet. 

_ He will. Like you decided before, six months at the most. Then he’ll realize just how pathetic you are and not want anything to do with you. If you try, you’ll both be wasting your time.  _

There’s nothing wrong with having a friend. And...and there’s a chance. As small as it is, maybe there is a chance that the universe chose correctly. And even if it doesn’t work out, maybe...maybe the few months where it does will be worth it. And if he decided to try, Will would be happy.  _ That  _ would male it worth it. 

“Okay,” he muttered. 

“Okay?” 

“Let’s...let’s keep trying.” 

Maybe what Valerie was saying was right. Maybe there was something good about him that he couldn’t see, but Valerie, Will, and the other people who cared about him could. And he deserved to be happy. And Will deserved to be happy. And maybe they could make each other happy. They both had fun today before they ran in Mr. Henryson. Maybe...maybe they could make that feeling permanent. Maybe this could work out. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. 

A smile spread across Will’s face. “Really? That’s...that’s great. That’s really great.” 

Maybe Nico was just thinking to pessimistically. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe Will and Valerie and Jason were right. Maybe they weren’t just trying to cheer him up. Maybe everyone else was just trying to make him feel terrible and ruin his life and he bought into it. Maybe he was just falling right into their hands and they were laughing at him. He was just letting them win. He was letting them continue to ruin his life. 

Well, no more. He was going to try. He was going to try. He was going to throw all of his doubts away and try. He was going to let himself be happy and throw a big ‘fuck you’ to everyone who tried to stop him. He was going to let himself do what  _ he  _  wanted. And he wanted to try with Will. And he was going to try!

“I think I want to take it slow, but I _ want  _ to try.” 

Will nodded. “That’s good. I’m happy.” 

The door to Nico’s room opened quickly and Hazel ran in. “Nico! Dinner. Seph made spinach and chicken.” 

Was it already time for dinner? Jason had dropped them off at Nico’s house at 4:00ish. Nico’s dad didn’t come home until around 6:00. Were Will and him talking for that long?

“Nico? Why are you crying?” Hazel immediately turned towards Will with a glare. Although she was only eight, the look she gave him would kill him if looks could kill. “What did you do?” 

Will put his hands up in the air. “It wasn’t me. Or...it was kinda me. But…” 

Nico let out a snicker before guiding Hazel into his lap. “It wasn’t his fault. Don’t be mad at him Haze. Will’s a good person.” 

Hazel softened her look and stared at Will. “Well, he better be.” She looked back at him. “You’re a good person and you don’t deserve to have bad people in your life.” She buried her face in Nico’s and wrapped her arms around his abdomen. 

“I’m a good person?” He asked. 

“Of course. You wouldn’t be the best sibling ever if you weren’t.” 

Nico could feel tears building up in his eyes again. He needed to calm himself down. 

“You want to stay for dinner Will?” He asked trying to distract himself. 

Will smile. “I wouldn’t mind. Your house is actually kinda far from mine, so I’ll need Mom to pick me up.” 

Nico nodded. He looked down at Hazel. “Go tell Seph that Will is staying for dinner. We’ll be down as soon as Will calls his mom. Okay?” 

Hazel lifted her head and nodded before getting up. She looked over Will one more time before leaving the room. 

“Never thought that I would get shovel talked by an eight year old.” 

“Seven. There’s still a month left until her birthday.” 

“Don’t make me feel worse!” 

Nico could feel a laugh building in his throat. Some weird mixture of a laugh and sob came out of his mouth and he could feel tears trailing down his cheeks again. 

“Hey. You’re okay,” Will comforted. “Can..can I hug you?” 

Nico normally didn’t like hugs. He felt like he was trapped. He only let Valerie and his family hug him since he was comfortable around them. He supposed he could make an exception for Will. 

He nodded his head, and Will moved to lightly wrap his arms around Nico. It was strong enough that Nico would feel it, but weak enough that Nico could easily get out of his grasp if he wanted. 

It felt safe. Warm and safe. 

Nico wished they could stay like that forever. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I am now officially a high school graduate.  
> That also means that it is now summer vacation, so I have more time to write.  
> In other news, today is also the last day of Ramadan. So tomorrow is Eid. (This is a Muslim holiday that we celebrate at the end of Ramadan and at the end of the days of Hajj (pilgrimage). We spend time with our relatives and eat lots of food and wear new clothes and stuff.)  
> I'm going to spend the day in the car for like five hours (2.5 to my relatives house and back), so I'll probably have time to work on this so I might even get another chapter out tomorrow or the day after!  
> Also new season of Voltron comes out on Eid! Woot! 
> 
> Anyways, I also made a (kinda) outline of this story, so I know where I'm going with this, and let me tell you, this has just started.  
> But now I can also start doing this---  
> Next Chapter: Nico talks to his parents, Teddy Bears, and Jerks with cake
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!  
> Please leave comments and/or kudos if you did  
> I love seeing comments!!! Thank you to all of you who left comments last chapter!!! :)  
> Thank you all for reading! I hope you all stay for the entire ride  
> I hope you all have a great day/night wherever you are!


	8. Nico Thinks A Lot. Maybe Too Much. Watch Where You're Walking!

Nico gently knocked on the door of his father’s office. His father had been in his office a lot lately, but Nico decided that it would be best to try to talk to him now while he still had the courage to. Will had left an hour ago, and Nico figured that he should tell his dad about him being his soulmate now that they had decided to try...or something. Nico wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about the whole thing. Too much had happened today, and he didn’t get the chance to think it over.  But he also knew that if he thought it over before talking to his dad, he would probably push telling him for as long as he could.

His father called out that the door was open after a few seconds and Nico slowly opened the door and stepped in. There were papers scattered everywhere and his father looked like he was going tear them all apart.

“It’s not important. I’m sorry,” Nico decided.

His father was normally calm and organized. Neither him or his office looked like that right now, so it was probably not a good time to bring up the Soulmates thing.

He was about to turn around and leave when his father looked towards him and calmed his features. “Nico? What’s wrong?”

Nicp turned back around hesitantly and shook his head. “Umm...nothing.”

His dad frowned. “You wouldn’t come here if it was nothing.”

“Uhh...I just wanted to talk about something,” Nico murmured. “But you look busy. We can talk later.”

“Sit down,” His father said pointing to a seat. “I’m not busy. I just lost something. I’ve looked around everywhere.”

Nico looked around at the mess in the room. “What are you looking for?”

“A folder. It’s fine though. Having it would be easier, but...oh well.” His father made another glance around the room before looking back up to him. “Sit Nico.”

Nico looked around the room again before frowning and closing the door behind him. He was hoping he could get out of this. He lost all of his courage as soon as he entered the room and saw his father's face.

He made his way to a chair and his father sat down in the chair next to it. He looked at him expectantly waiting for him to say something. Nico looked down in his lap. He opened his mouth a few times, but no words came out. This continued for a minute before his father decided to start the conversation instead.

“What’s the matter Nico?” His father asked gently.

“I...uhh...”

Why was this so hard? He just needed to tell him. It wasn’t like he was saying anything wrong either. Finding his soulmate was a good thing.

_No it isn’t. Don’t lie to yourself. Everything would have been easier for everyone if you and Will never found out._

_And now you’re saying that you’re going to try? You think it’s actually going to work out? All you’re doing is wasting Will’s time. He’ll get tired of you. He might say he won’t now, but he will._

“Nico!”

His father grabbed his left arm and Nico snapped out of his trance. He looked towards his dad who had a panicked look in his eyes and then down to his arms. There were small trails of blood sliding down his right arm. Nico could mildly feel his arm stinging and could see that the bandages on his arm were shifted.

He must have started scratching at his arm. That would have caused the cuts to start bleeding again.

His father loosened his hold on Nico’s arm.

“I..I’ll get the first aid kit.” His father let go of his arm and walked over to the other side of his desk.

Nico didn’t move. He just stared at the blood trailing down his arm.

Why was he such a mess?

His father came back with the small first aid kit that he kept in his desk. He opened it up and set it on top of his desk before moving to unwrap the bandages from the rest of Nico’s arm.

Some of the newer cuts were ripped open while others were still red and scabbed over. Nico could barely make out the words underneath them.

_“That’s not what I meant”_

“Sorry,” he whispered.

His father looked up at him for a few seconds before looking back down at his arm and cleaning his cuts. Nico winced at the sensation.

“When did these happen?” His dad asked.

“Last week.”

His dad frowned. “You were clean for a month. I thought you stopped.”

Nico shrugged. He supposed he was better at hiding it than he thought. He was definitely not clean for a month. Maybe two weeks.

“What happened?” His dad asked.

He moved to grab the bandages and wrap them around Nico's arm.

“I…” Nico frowned. “I met my soulmate.”

There. He said it.

His dad stopped and stared at him for a few moments before moving back to wrapping his wound. He didn't speak again until he finished.

“What's their name?” He asked calmly.

Nico hesitated. “Will.”

His father raised an eyebrow. “Will? As in the boy who ate dinner with us?”

Nico slowly nodded his head. His father gave him a confused stare. Nico looked down at his arm.

What was he doing?

“It was an accident,” Nico explained. “I touched his soulmark by accident.”

“I would assume. Your own soulmark isn't in the best state.”

Nico flinched at that. He quickly pulled his shirts sleeve back down.

His father sighed. “So? What now?”

Nico wringed his wrist to ground himself. “We...I told him about what happened. Not all of it, but I gave him a general overview. He said he still wanted to try.”

His father nodded. “And what do you want?”

What did Nico want?

He wanted it to work. Why wouldn't he? He wanted all those things that Will said.

But what he wanted isn't what he always got. It isn't always what he deserves.

“It...I…” Nico sighed. “We agreed to try, but...I doubt it will work.”

“Why?”

“Because I'm a complete mess. Because I'm a burden. Because I'm annoying. Because he deserves better.” He could hear the hint of anger in his voice, so he took a deep breath.

“Do you want it to work Nico?”

Nico frowned. He already asked this. “I guess.”

His father nodded. “Then try and see what happens. Don't give up before you try. You can't predict everything Nico.”

“But…”

“No buts. Try your best and if it ends in disaster than at least you know you tried. And that's better than not trying. If there's a chance that something good will happen then take the risk.”

Nico thought over his father's words. He supposed he was giving up too easily. He couldn't give up before he gave it his all. This would maybe (probably) end in disaster, but if he tried, he would have one less regret. Maybe a couple months of things working would be worth it.

Maybe.

“I'm going to try.”

His father smiled. “That great Nico. I'm proud.”

 

“Hey Mama. Hey Bia.”

It was chilly outside, so Nico wrapped himself in his favorite black sweatshirt. The sky was clear of clouds, but the light pollution made it difficult to see many stars. It was better than New York though.

“I met my soulmate.”

He was outside on the balcony leaning against the bars. It was late, and the rest of his family was asleep. But Nico needed to do this.

People usually talked to their relatives at their graves, but Nico couldn't really do that. His Mom's grave was across an entire ocean and Bianca's was in New York. He didn't think that talking to a grave helped him much anyways. He doubted his Mama or sister could actually hear him, but if they could, he didn't think talking to a grave or talking to the sky would change much.

“He seems like a nice guy. And I know I said that I didn't want to meet my soulmate, but it was an accident, and I still don't know how I fully feel about all of this, and most of me still thinks it's not going to work, but...but I'm going to try anyways. He...I told him what happened, and he didn't immediately leave afterwards. He still wanted to try. He knows I'm messed up and he still wants to.”

Nico took a deep breath and rubbed his hands together to warm them up. A small smile came to his face.

“He said that he's going to try, so it's only fair that I do too. And I want it to work. And Dad said that the want should be motivation enough. Maybe he's right but we'll see.”

Nico looked down to his hands. “I miss you both a lot. You both would have probably told me that I’m being stupid and that I shouldn't worry so much. I probably do worry too much.”

Nico let out a small chuckle before he looked up at the sky. “I hope you're proud of me in the end. I want you to be proud. And...and I doubt you're be proud of me if I gave up. So I'm going to try. And…”

He could hear his voice crack and feel tears well up in his eyes. He quickly wiped them away and took a deep breath.

“We'll see what happens,” he whispered.

 

Nico walked into his government class and sat down next to Will who was already there. He was talking to someone else next to him, so Nico pulled a present he got for him out of his backpack and set it on his desk. Will turned towards the gift and picked it up.

“What's this?” He asked.

It was a small yellow and white teddy bear with a small bag of candy attached to it. Nico had seen it at the mall when Seph dragged him there after his appointment with his dentist. He thought that Will would like it, so he bought it for him.

He said that he would try, and soulmates bought each other gifts, right?

Will poked the teddy bear’s nose. “It's cute.”

“You like yellow.”

Will looked over towards him. “Did that end up on your arm?”

Nico nodded his head.

Will smiled. “Yeah I like yellow. Thanks Nico.” He set the bear in his lap. “I feel bad for not getting you anything now.”

Nico shook his head. “I don't care. I just saw it, so I bought it. You don't have to get me anything.”

“I'm still going to. It'll be awesome.”

Nico opened his mouth to speak but didn't say anything. He shouldn't start arguing with Will over something stupid like this. Will probably wouldn't even remember anyways, so why did it matter?

Nico was happy that Will liked the gift. He shouldn't ruin his mood. Or his own mood.

Maybe Nico was a mess, but he was going to try and make Will happy for as long as he could.

“Oh yeah,” Will said. “My mom wanted to invite your family over for dinner this weekend.”

Will turned towards him with a smile.

Dinner? With both his and Will's family.

Sure, Will ate dinner with his family, but that was before Nico told them that Will was his soulmate. This would be more formal. And everyone would know.

It had only been a couple days since their... date? Hangout? Whatever. And Nico wasn't ready to meet Will's family. Maybe it would be fine if he just saw them and said hi or something, but a planned out dinner? Nico's anxiety did not seem to like that idea.

But…soulmates we're supposed to do that. They were supposed to meet their soulmate’s families. And Nico could assume that his family wanted to meet Will's family too.

And Nico said that he would try.

“I... I'll ask my parents, but I don't think we're doing anything special for dinner on Saturday.”

A big smile came to Will's face, and Nico decided that it was worth it.

 

“So how are things going?” Jason asked casually.

“Fine?” Nico answered.

Jason nodded his head. “Good. Good. Being fine is good.”

Nico raised an eyebrow. “Are you fine Jason?”

He definitely wasn't acting normal. More jumpy than usual. It was like he was anxious about something.

“I'm fine too. And let me tell you about being fine. It's a great thing.”

Nico frowned. “You definitely don't seem fine. You seem anxious.”

Jason hummed but didn't respond. Nico gave Jason another once over but decided not to ask again. Jason didn't push him to tell him anything and Nico wasn't going to push him.

“I gave Will a little teddy bear as a gift today.”

A smile came to Jason face. “You did? That's nice Nico.”

Nico nodded. “I told him what happened.”

Jason looked towards him for a second before turning back to look forward at the road. “How did...how did that go?”

Nico shrugged. “Better than expected. He...he still wanted to try.”

“So you're trying?”

Nico nodded. A smile came to Jason's face. “That's really good Nico. That's really great.”

Nico hummed but didn't say anything.

Trying. Trying. Trying. Trying. Trying.

“Did…” Jason started but then shook his head.

“Did?” Nico asked.

“Nevermind. It's...it's not important.”

“If you're stressing about it, then it probably is.”

Jason sighed. “Don't quote me.”

Jason continued to look forward and didn't say anything. Nico sighed and leaned his head against the window.

Jason pulled up in front of his house, and Nico unbuckled his seatbelt.

He was about to leave when Jason spoke again.

“Mr. Henryson was at my school. Apparently his nephew goes there.”

Nico wondered if his nephew was as bad him. Or if he even knew what his uncle was like.

“I saw him when I was with Will he talked to me. It's why we wanted you to pick us up early.”

Jason scowled.”He didn't say anything too bad, right?”

Nico shrugged. “I'm fine now.”

He was fine. He didn't even have a nightmare about him. Granted he barely slept last night or the night before, but that didn't change his statement.

“Are you worrying about him?” Nico asked.

Of course Jason was worrying about him. Crazy Jason worrying about other people too much.

“I guess. It's…” Jason sighed. “Just...take care of yourself.”

This was strange. He would expect Jason to be worried, but he looked scared. What was making him scared?

“I will. You do too.”

Jason nodded. “Yup.”

 

Stupid Chemistry teacher.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

Why does she keep glaring at him? It's been two weeks. How long is she going to stay bitter? He's the one who should be bitter. She told him that he was unloveable. Nico did her a favor.

And now she doesn't just glare. She also left comments on his stupid test that were less than nice.

He could probably take his papers to the the principal and get her fired, but that involved effort and his anxiety didn't think it was worth it.

Maybe his anger would win one day, but today was not that day.

Apparently, his anger was enough to get him to run into someone. Run into someone who was holding a cake. Someone who then proceeded to drop said cake on him.

Today was not a good day.

“What the fuck?!” The boy yelled.

Nico looked up at the person in front of him. He had nice styled blonde hair and sharp blue eyes. He looked older than Nico and he was taller, but he was skinny and Nico bet he could probably beat him up. Though the crazed look in his eyes made Nico want to step back from the guy.

“Sorry. I…” Nico started, but he was interrupted by the guy who had just lost his cake.

“You know what that cake was? It was a birthday cake. For. Me. I got it as a gift. And you know what? I was looking forward to eating it. But now it's destroyed.”

Nico lowered his head. He'd probably be just as angry. The poor cake. “Sorry. I was distracted.”

That didn't seem to calm him down at all. “Well, I sure hope you didn't do it on purpose. I'm angry enough.”

Nico looked down at his shirt. It looked like a vanilla cake. And the icing was blue and yellow. Nico wouldn't know for sure what was unless he tasted it.

“I.. I can buy you another one. Or make you one. I'm pretty good at making cake. Or I can give you some money to buy a new one.”

Nico moved to try and get some one the icing off his shirt. It's a good thing he had PE today. He had his PE clothes with him, so he could change. And he would need to clean the cake off the ground too.

“You can't just replace that cake. It was special. It was a gift.”

Nico could understand that. It doesn't matter how great something is, it's a million times better when someone you cares about makes it. Like Hazel's pictures. They weren't the best in the world, but they were for him because Hazel made them.

“I'm sorry. I…”

How was Nico supposed to make this up? It's not like he could fix a cake on the floor.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

Nico moved to get the rest of the cake off his shirt.

The guy in front of him grabbed his arm. Nico looked back up at him.

“I didn't even get to taste it.”

His grip on Nico's arm got stronger.

“I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I don't know how to make it up.”

The guy tightened his grip even more and it started to hurt. He was apparently stronger than he looked. It didn't help that he was holding his arm right over his soulmark. Right over his cuts.

The guy leaned in towards him. And Nico tried to back up, but he held him in place.

“You don't know how to make it up because you can't.”

Nico looked towards his arm. He knew he couldn't make it up. He also agreed that the guy in front of him was allowed to be mad at him.

“I know. But I can't change anything now. You're allowed to be mad. But...can you please let go of me.”

The guy instead started digging his fingers into his arm and Nico was pretty sure his cuts were going to reopen again.

“Getting that cake made me really happy. It looked great. I couldn't wait to eat it.”

Nico nodded his head. He could feel tears well up in his eyes.

Why was he such a screw up?

The next thing that happened Nico did not expect. It took him a few seconds to process that it was even happening.

Cake guy stuffed Nico's fingers in his mouth and started licking the icing off of them.

What the fuck?

Nico kicked the dude in the shin as hard as he could and ripped his arm away from the weirdo. He looked down at his fingers. The icing on them was wet and covered in saliva along with the rest of his fingers.

Eww.

He quickly wiped them off on his shirt.

“What was that?” He yelled glaring at the guy.

Cake guy was staring at his leg in pain before he looked up to Nico with a glare and shrugged.

What the hell?!

Whatever sort of regret he felt for running into the guy immediately disappeared. The scumbag deserved to have his cake knocked out of his hand and destroyed. He couldn't imagine anyone giving him a cake as a present. It probably tasted terrible as a joke.

He was about to punch the guy in the face when a teacher came and stood next to him.

“What's going on?” She asked. Nico looked away from Cake guy and towards the teacher. She had a scowl on her face and her arms were crossed.

“He ran into me and had me drop my cake,” Cake guy explains innocently

“And then I tried to apologize and told him that I'd even get him a new cake. But instead he digs his fingers into my arm and then stuffs my hand in his mouth,” Nico yelled.

The teacher turned towards Cake guy. “Is that true?”

“I didn't grab his arm that hard.”

Nico rolled his eyes. He pulled up his arm sleeve. His bandages had spots of red on them. “My cuts opened. Again.”

The teacher looked down at his arm for a few seconds before glaring back at cake guy.

“Octavian you come with me.” She looked towards Nico. “Name?”

“Nico Di Angelo.”

She nodded. “You go to the clinic and then back to class.”

Clinic?

“It's not that bad. And it's already bandaged.”

“Clinic,” the teacher repeated. “And maybe clean your shirt.”

Nico looked down at his caked shirt and sighed. “Right. Okay.”

Nico sent one last glare at the Cake guy... Octavian, before he turned and walked towards the direction of the bathrooms.

 

“What caused these cuts?” The nurse asked.

“You know what caused them,” Nico spat.

She gave him a pitiful look but kept her mouth shut.

Today was a terrible day.

Nico looked down at his fingers. His fingers that were in Octavian's mouth. Nico wiped his hands on his pants even though he knew that there was nothing left. He washed his hands like five times.

“Well, you're all patched up,” the nurse announced.

Nico looks down at his arm. It was definitely better patched up than when he did it himself. Or when his father did it.

“Thank you.”

The nurse eyed him warily. “Do you want to go home?”

Yes.

“It's fine. School’s almost over anyway.”

The nurse stared at him concerned for a few seconds before nodding. “Have a good rest of your day.”

“You too.”

Nico grabbed his backpack and walked out of the nurse's office.

Nico turned and walked straight down the hall to his class. He looked back down to his fingers.

_“Suck.”_

Nico tried rubbing his fingers on his shirt again, but they still felt wet and disgusting.

_“I'm sure that's good enough. Now come on hurry up. I payed good for this.”_

Nico ran to the closest trash can and emptied his stomach in it. His throat burned and his eyes watered and he could feel some tears spill down his cheeks. He quickly wiped them away.

It wasn't that bad. Why was he freaking out so much?

He took a deep breath and stood up straight and kept walking.

This wasn't bad. He didn't need to go freaking out about it. He was going to worry someone. That would be bad.

He needed to calm down. Calm down. Calm down. Calm down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah.  
> Introspection and set up for the future. 
> 
> Next Chapter:  
> Dinner goes...ehhh
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed!  
> Comment and/or kudos if you did!  
> I love seeing comments! Thank you to those of you who commented on the last chapter!!!  
> Thank you for reading! :)  
> I hope you all have a great day/night wherever you are!


	9. Dinner Debacles

Well, things could be worse.

Maybe the vacuum cleaner broke down, but that was fine since Will had vacuumed the entire house three days ago, so how much did they really need to vacuum, right? And maybe they ran out of onions, but they could just go to the store and buy more. Except that the car decided that it didn’t want to start today which was just great. But luckily their nice neighbors had onions, so crisis averted. Well, until Will smelled smoke from his room and ran to check, only to find that his Mom had almost burned down the house with her cooking. But that was okay because they just had to open a couple windows and remake the food. Luckily their neighbor was a total romantic and let them borrow as many ingredients that they needed.

So when 6:00 rolled around, their house somehow looked okay and dinner was mainly ready. Everything was going to go just fine.

When the doorbell rang at 6:07, Will likes to think that he didn’t panic while Andy went to go open the door and he helped his Mom set the table. Okay, maybe he did a bit. His day was a giant mixture of what he couldn’t decide was good or bad luck. He had the right to be a little nervous that the trend would continue.

Will took a deep breath and set the last plate on the table. That was when Andy led Nico’s family to the kitchen. Everyone greeted each other before they all sat down at the circular dining table with Will right between his mom and Nico.

“So I have dinner all set-up. I guess you just take what you like and then we can...talk?” His mom babbled.

Their family wasn’t really known for hosting dinner. The only times people came to their house for dinner was when they were family or close friends. They had no idea what they were supposed to do or say in these situations. They weren’t even sure about how formal they were supposed to be.

Nico’s dad was sitting in front of him, and he could see his give a strange look for a second before smiling and nodding his head. He picked up his plate and started scooping up whatever was in front of him with an awkward smile. Will could see Nico shake his head from the corner of his eye.

Will turned towards him to ask what was wrong, but Nico turned towards his left before he could.

“What do you want to eat Haze?” Nico asked.

Hazel stretched up in her seat to try and look at all the dishes on the table but frowned and gave up after a few seconds.

“What is there?” She pouted. “I can’t see.”

Nico rolled his eyes with a small laugh before pointing to every dish and telling Hazel what was in each one.

Once everyone had served themselves food they sat down and quietly started eating. It was really awkward, and Will had no idea what he was supposed to say to fix it.

Thank god Persephone broke the silence. “The food is really good. Especially this chicken. It’s sweet, but it’s also kinda spicy.”

That made his mom smile and spring into the conversation. “It’s my dad’s recipe. He used to make it at least once a month. I was always excited for those days growing up.”

Persephone nodded her head with a smile. “That’s adorable. My mother made this special dish of hers made from okra and an assortment of things that I’m still not sure about at least once a month. Those were the days that I dreaded. And I love okra. I have no idea what she did to ruin it.”

That got a laugh out of everyone and seemed to dispel the awkward atmosphere. His mom and Persephone started having a full conversation about their childhood meals while Will could see Andy and Mr. Di Angelo start a conversation about...something. Will couldn’t really understand. Hazel started to draw shapes on her mashed potatoes with a smile on her face while kicking her legs underneath the table. At least she seemed to be enjoying herself.

And Nico…

He was staring at his plate with a blank expression while his right hand was rested on the table gripping his fork tightly.

Will lightly tapped his shoulder which caused him to flinch and drop his fork on the ground. The loud sound made everyone stop what they were doing and turn towards Nico who just stared at the ground for the few seconds before picking the fork up.

“Sorry,” Nico mumbled once he sat back up.

“I'll go get you another fork,” Will's mom offered.

Nico nodded his head slowly. She smiled at him before getting up and walking towards the kitchen.

Nico set the fork down on the table and continued to stare down at his food with his hands now on his lap.

That seemed to reestablish the awkward atmosphere in the room. Well, it did for everyone except Hazel. She continued to pleasantly hum gently while drawing shapes on her potatoes and stuffing chicken and carrots into her mouth.

Andy coughed softly, and Will could feel relief spreading through him. He was going to end the awkwardness. Hooray!

“So, Nico?” Andy started. His words caught everyone's attention and they all looked towards him. “The two of you found out that you were soulmates when you touched Will's soulmark, correct?”

Nico stared at Andy confused before nodding his head. “Yes…”

“But you haven't let him touch yours yet?”

Will widened his eyes and sent a glare in Andy's direction.

What the hell was he doing? This was not the place or time to ask! And Will had already explained it to them. Why was he asking?

“Umm...no?” Nico stuttered in reply.

Andy nodded. “May I ask why?”

Will huffed. Asking it nicely isn't going to make everyone else less uncomfortable.

“Ummm... I'm just not ready for it yet,” Nico answered.

Will hoped that getting that answer was enough for Andy.

“But why?” Andy asked.

Will really wanted to kick Andy under the table, but Nico's dad was sitting way to close, and Will definitely didn't want to accidentally kick him.

“You two _are_ soulmates,” Andy continued. “And you both know it. Why the delay?”

“Umm…”

Will turned towards Nico. He was quickly looking everywhere like he was searching for some way to escape.

“Does it really matter?” Will asked trying to end the conversation.

Will’s mom chose that moment to come back with another fork.

“Sorry that took so long, dear. It took some time to find another fork. But I did it,” she said triumphantly while waving the fork.

She came over and handed the fork to Nico.

“It's...it's fine. Thank you,” Nico stuttered.

“No problem.”

Will's mom went over and sat back down in her seat with a smile.

“So what were y’all talking about?” She asked.

Will sent a glare over towards Andy and Nico started picking at his food with his new fork. Andy, however, decided to ignore the tense atmosphere. Will was really starting to hate the guy.

“I was asking Nico why him and Will don't just bond?” Andy explained.

“And Nico already explained that he doesn't want to yet,” Persephone stressed.

“But why?” His mother asked joining the argument. “They're stuck together forever anyways. Why does it matter when it happens?”

“Why does it matter?” Mr. Di Angelo gritted out.

His mom shook her head. “I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with it. I'm just curious as to why. It's not common for soulmates to wait.”

“Who cares?” Persephone argued. “They're both fine with it!”

“But are they? Is Will happy with waiting or is he just going along with it because he doesn't have a choice?”

“I'm perfectly fine with it,” Will interjected hoping to end the argument. Sadly, the adults all ignored him and continued to go back and forth.

Will sighed and shook his head. This was all going just great.

Will turned towards Nico and immediately wanted to slap himself for not focusing on him before. He was now biting at his thumb while his other hand played around with the food on his plate. He had a panicked look in his eyes and his legs were moving like he wanted to just run out of the house and never come back. Hopefully the never come back part wasn't true.

Behind him, Will could see that Hazel was no longer smiling, and she had pushed away her plate. She must have been getting scared of the angry adults too.  

Will decided it would be best to get out of the room. Their arguing was escalating, and Will had no way to stop it.

Instead of tapping Nico’s shoulder this time, Will waved his hand in front of his face instead. That seemed to work much better.

Nico turned towards him and set his left hand back onto his lap. He still looked panicked, but he was at least focusing on something now.

“You want to get out?” Will whispered loud enough for only Nico to hear him.

Nico turned towards the still arguing adults before quickly turning back towards him and nodding.

Will nodded. “Get Hazel and we'll leave.”

The three of them got out of there seats and walked out of the kitchen. Surprisingly none of the adults tried to stop them or even said anything about it. Will wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth though, so he decided not to question it.

Will grabbed his house key and wallet before leading Hazel and Nico outside and shutting the door behind him.

“Well that was...something,” Will stated.

Nico nodded. “Now what?”

Now what indeed. Will couldn't take them back into the crazy fest in his house that was for sure, but he couldn't just keep down outside on his front lawn all night. It was getting colder and none of them were dressed to stay outside for long. That only left one option.

“There’s a small diner close by,” Will suggested.

Nico nodded his head, and Will led the way with Nico and Hazel following close behind him.

The diner was a ten minute walk from Will's house. It was in a small shopping center that had a few other family owned shops. This one was owned by this really nice couple. They had a son named Bobby who had gone off to college last year, so Will didn't see him around much anymore, but Mr. and Ms. McCarthy we're usually around in the diner. Will usually caught at least one of them every time he visited.

The diner itself was set up like one of the old ones seen on TV. It had those booths you had to slide into, a jukebox, and every other Friday the servers wore roller skates. The walls were painted blue and red and there were shiny tiles on the walls to make the place look better. The floors had smoother tiles (since it would be really hard to roller skate it the entire floor was made of little hills).

Will led Nico and Hazel inside. The place wasn't insanely busy, but most of the seats were taken by other families and couples. He could see Ms. McCarthy at the front. She seemed to notice him. Will waved towards her and she smiled back. She seemed busy though, so Will decided not to go up and talk to her. He found an empty booth near the back and he slid into his seat while Hazel and Nico sat in front of him.

“We didn't really get to eat any dinner, so order something to eat,” Will suggested.

Hazel got excited over the idea and immediately grabbed a menu off the table.

Nico continued staring blankly at the table while tracing one of the dots that decorated it. Will gave him a worried once over. He hoped that he wasn't taking anything his parents said to heart.

Will tapped the table next to Nico’s hand to get his attention. When he looked up, Will gave him a small smile and pointed at the menu.

“They have really great fries,” Will persuaded.

Nico stared at him for a second before sighing and grabbing a menu himself.

Will frowned. That wasn't the reaction he was expecting at all. He was expecting Nico to either be excited about the fries or say he's not hungry. He didn't expect him to just grab a menu and not say anything.

“Nico? What's wrong?” Will asked softly.

Nico shook his head and continued reading through the menu.

Will sighed. He didn't want to push Nico into telling him anything he didn't want to, but it didn't make Will be any less annoyed by his stubbornness. But, Nico was opening up to him more. There was some progress, and Will supposed that was better than nothing. Maybe Nico would open up about this by the end of the day...night.

A waitress soon came up to them in one of the standard red and blue uniforms with a big smile on her face.

“You guys ready to order?” She asked.

Will looked over at Hazel and Nico. Hazel seemed to be ready, but Nico was completely zoned out...again.

He sighed.

“What do want Hazel?” Will asked with a smile.

“Chicken Tenders!” She replied happily.

A short laugh spilled out of Will's mouth before he turned back towards the waitress.

“Get us a chicken tender meal with fries.” Will thought for a second. He was pretty hungry too. “Two of them.” They could all share. And they could order more later if they wanted.

Will turned back towards Hazel. “Do you want anything to drink?”

“Can I get a milkshake?” She asked with big eyes.

Will nodded. “What flavor?”

“Strawberry!”

Will turned back towards the waitress. “And a strawberry milkshake. That's it.”

She nodded her head and looked up from her notepad. “Got it.” She waved her hand towards them and walked towards the front to place their order.

Hazel folded up her menu and put it back in it's holder. Nico still had his arm resting on his while he looked at it with a far away look in his eyes. Hazel leaned towards him and grabbed his arm before setting her head on it.

Nico's gaze snapped away from the menu and quickly towards his arm. His eyes softened when he realized it was just Hazel, and he sighed in relief.

“What is it Hazel?” He asked gently.

“We bought chicken tenders. And fries. And I got a strawberry milkshake!”

A soft smile spread across Nico's face. “You're happy.”

Hazel nodded into Nico's arm, and Nico patted her head with his other arm.

Hazel mumbled something else that Will couldn’t properly understand. Nico frowned towards her.

“Did you not go before we came?” he asked.

“That was like an hour ago,” she protested.

Go where?

“Well, Seph isn’t here.”

“I can go myself!”

“But it could be dangerous.”

“What?” Will interrupted.

Nico looked towards him and then back at Hazel. “She needs to go to the bathroom.”

Will looked towards the direction of the bathrooms. They were clearly visible from here.

“They’re right there,” he said pointing awkwardly. “Clearly visible.”

Hazel immediately jumped off the seat and sped walked to the bathroom before either of them could say anything.

Nico continued staring towards the direction of the bathroom.

“What’s wrong?” Will asked.

Nico looked towards him quickly before back to the bathrooms.

“What if something bad happens?” He responded.

Will frowned. “She’ll be fine.”  
“You don’t know that.”

“No...But that doesn’t mean that something bad will happen for sure. You obviously shouldn’t do crazy things like jump off a four story building since there’s a chance you’ll be okay, but that doesn’t mean that you should restrict yourself entirely either. And we can see the bathroom door from here. That included anyone who goes in or goes out. So it’ll be fine.”

Nico looked back towards him and then down at the menu before sighing. “I know,” he whispers.

“Is something bothering you? More than just this.”

Nico shrugged. “Not really.”

Will sighed. “There must be something. You’ve been acting out of it all day.”

Nico started biting on his lip and tapping his fingers against the table.

“I don’t know. I...I guess something happened at school. And that brought back memories. And I had a really bad nightmare last night and I feel more anxious than usual and really tired.”

“Our parents arguing probably didn’t help, huh?”

Nico shrugged again and sighed before putting his head down on his arms on the table.

Will figured that he wasn’t about to get anything else out of him any time soon, so he moved towards changing the topic. He started telling Nico about the time Cecil tried to steal his lunch in elementary school and how it led to them becoming friends.

Nico soon raised his head from the table and Will was even able to get a couple smiles from him during the funnier parts of the story. Hazel came back around the same time as the waitress came back with their food. Hazel immediately began munching on the tenders and started telling a story of her own.

Will could see some of the tension drain from Nico as more stories were told. He even told one of this own about accidently throwing paint on his teacher in fourth grade. His smiles were becoming more common and he even laughed a couple times. He even ate some of the food and stole sips from Hazel’s milkshake.

He was about to tell them about the time Lou Ellen dragged him and Cecil to one of the small shops after closing because she left her hat their, but he felt a vibration on his leg before he started. He immediately remembered that neither of their parents had any idea about where they are, and that he probably should have texted them that before now. It had been an more than an hour.

Will pulled out his phone from his pocket and saw the missed call from his mom. He immediately called her back. She picked up at the first ring.

“Will! Where are you?” She asked frantic.

“Umm...at the diner,” he replied.

He heard his mom sigh with relief on the other end. “Okay. Good.”

His mom stayed silent and Will wasn't entirely sure what to say. Will had almost completely forgotten about the family dinner and the argument that happened at his house. He got way too caught up with what was happening now.

Would right now on the phone be a good time to ask how that argument went? Or should he ask if it's safe to come home? Did he really want to leave the diner now and go home?

“Will?” His mom called.

“Yes?”

“Well, I wanted to say that I'm sorry. I'm not sure what got me so carried away.”

Will could hear the sincerity in her tone, but it didn't stop the wave of annoyance that he still felt about the entire situation.

“Why were you and Andy so insistent about it in the first place?”

Will really couldn't understand what made both of them start that stupid argument. Will had already told them numerous times that they were taking things slow and that they _both_ agreed with this plan.

“I...I was worried I guess. It's no excuse but...but I was just worried that you were only going along with it because...well, that's the type of person you are. You like making people happy. Even when it hurts you. I guess I just wanted to know if there was a valid reason behind it and if it was worth you being hurt.”

Will groaned. He could understand where his mom was coming from. There were other times where he put other people's needs before his own and ultimately ended up digging his own grave, but this wasn't one of those times.

“Mom. Thanks for worrying about me. But I promise you that this is what I want and I'm happy with it right now. If that does change, I'll talk to you. But I'm happy with the way things are.”

“That's...that's good. Tell me if you're not though. And if that happens, we'll work on it in a completely different way. No more arguing with your soulmate’s parents.”

That got a laugh out of the both of them.

“What are you guys doing now?” Will asked.

“Well, after that disastrous argument, we settled everything and actually had pleasant conversation over dinner. We are now playing racing games on your PlayStation.”

He looked towards Nico and Hazel and saw Nico trying to clean off some of the milkshake that got on her face. Nico seemed to notice his gaze and looked towards him. He sent a smile his way, and Will smiled back.

“That's great Mom,” Will concluded.

“Yeah. They're great people. Maybe next time I can try getting closer to your soulmate instead of scaring him away.”

“Can we get apple pie?” Hazel asked.

He could hear his mom laugh on the other end.

“You all seem to be having fun, so I'll let you go. Don't come home too late!”

“Alright. Oh and...umm..there is a reason. I can't tell you it, but there is.”

Will figured he had to put that out there. He had to somehow let him mom know that they weren't doing this out of a whim.

“I figured Will. Don't worry. I was just worried about you. People do stupid things for those that they love.”

Will grabbed a chicken tender from one of the plates and quickly bit into it in order to not say something stupid.

“I love you too Mom.”

Will could hear the smile in his mom's voice while she said that. It made Will feel light and brought a smile to his own face. Will knew that his mom loved him, but it was always great to hear it from the source.

 

Will was just about to turn the light off to go to bed when he heard his phone vibrate on his nightstand. Will turned off the light and picked up his phone before sitting down on his bed. He figured that the text would either be from Lou Ellen or Cecil. To his surprise it was actually from Nico.

After they all finished eating at the diner, Will took Nico and Hazel back to his house. It was getting late, so Nico’s Dad decided that it would be best to leave.

Nico seemed to be a bit better by then, but Will was still worried. Something must have been really bothering him if it was distracting him that much.

Will unlocked his phone to see the message.

 

**1:34**

**Hey…**

**I'm sorry**

**You're probably asleep**

**Sorry**

 

**1:37**

**Hey!**

**I'm awake**

**Sorry for…?**

 

**1:39**

**Being all panicked and distracted today**

**Sorry.**

 

**1:40**

**You don't have to apologize for it**

**I was more worried than anything**

**Are you feeling better???**

 

**1:46**

**Not really**

**Can't sleep**

**Why are you awake?**

 

**1:47**

**It's Saturday**

**Also**

**My mom and I were bingeing a show**

**Andy was there too**

**But he's not important**

 

**1:49**

**Fun**

**Were you about to sleep?**

 

**1:51**

**Maybe…**

**No problem though**

**I'm here whenever you need to talk**

**Or text**

**I'm not annoyed**

 

**1:59**

**Thanks**

**I just…**

**I had a bad week**

**And I'm scared it's not over**

 

**2:02**

**I'm here to talk if you need to**

 

**2:09**

**There's just a lot that's happened**

**We went on a date**

**I told you about the /thing/**

**I decided to try and see if this would work**

**I told my dad about everything**

**Dr. Fig wrote me a mean letter**

**I bumped into some creep in the halls and got cake on my shirt and saliva on my fingers**

**I've been having worse than usual nightmares for the past two nights**

**And then dinner happened**

**And it's all a lot**

 

**2:11**

**:(**

**That...that is a lot**

**Wait...cake? Saliva?**

 

**2:18**

**Weirdo at school**

**I bumped into him and he dropped his cake**

**And then he started sucking on fingers to get the icing off**

 

**2:20**

**…**

**What**

**The**

**Fuck?**

 

**2:22**

**Idk**

**He got three days of in school suspension**

 

**2:23**

**But now you’re having nightmares**

**What is actually wrong with him?**

 

**2:25**

**Idk**

**Nothing happened to me though**

**She called me into her office for a bit the next morning and just told me to be more careful**

**She looked tired**

 

**2:26**

**You didn't do anything**

**And I've heard rumors that she hasn't been coming to work recently**

**Something happened**

**What though? Those range from someone dying to her being an evil overlord**

 

**2:27**

**Maybe she's just sick**

**You should go to sleep**

**It’s almost 2:30**

 

**2:28**

**Are you going to sleep?**

 

**2:28**

**...no**

 

**2:29**

**Then I’m not sleeping either**

**Will will not sleep until Nico sleeps**

 

**2:30**

**…**

**What if I just stop texting you?**

**How will you tell if I’m asleep?**

 

**2:31**

**Ummm….**

**Just don’t do that…**

 

**2:32**

**:)**

**But really Will**

**Go to sleep**

 

**2:33**

**Will you try to sleep?**

 

**2:36**

**I’ll try**

**No promises if it’ll work**

 

**2:37**

**Good enough**

**Text or call me if you need anything**

**Even if it’s 4 at night**

 

**2:40**

**Yeah**

**Ok**

**Thanks**

 

**2:41**

**No prob :)**

**GOOD NIGHT**

 

**2:42**

**Good night**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't why but writing this chapter was hard. I rewrote the beginning like three times before I decided to just let it be and kept going. I hope it was still enjoyable though.  
> Thank you to all of you who have been leaving comments! I love reading them!!!!  
> Thank you all for reading!  
> I hope you all have a great day/night wherever you are!


	10. Sweet!

**1:42**

**Hey Nico!**

 

**1:49**

**You're in class**

**I'm in class**

**What do you want?**

 

**1:52**

**I'm in French**

**And you're in Art**

**Who cares about class?**  

 

**1:54**

**I'm going to get paint all over my phone**

 

**1:55**

**…**

**Oh**

**I'm sure your painting is great**

 

**1:59**

**No**

**I suck at art**

**Especially painting**

**I can sorta draw**

 

**2:02**

**What???**

**But…**

**My arm said that you drew a potato for art class and got an A**

 

**2:05**

**Potato?**

**I remember that**

**It was terrible**

**I was just proud of the A**

**My teacher hated me**

**I probably still have it somewhere**

 

**2:07**

**Everything I know is a lie**

 

**2:09**

**Don't be dramatic**

**Now what did you want?**

 

**2:10**

**Oh yeah!**

**So on Wednesdays Lou Cecil and I always go out to study and hangout and stuff**

**And I figured you should come with us**

**If you want**

**We're going to the ice cream place today**

**Cecil can finally pay you back for that ice cream he dropped on you**

 

**2:17**

**He doesn't have to pay me back**

**And that sounds fun**

**I'll come**

 

**2:18**

**Really?**

**Awesome!!!**

 

**2:20**

**So how are we going to get there?**

 

**2:22**

**The bus**

 

**2:24**

**I can ask Jason to take us**

**He’s coming anyway**

**And he likes to come around and steal Seph’s cookies whenever he can**

**And she always makes cookies on Halloween**

**Or at least she has for the past four years I've known her**

 

**2:25**

**Oh**

**That would be nice**

**The bus is always crowded and takes forever**

 

**2:27**

**I'll tell Jase**

 

**2:28**

**Tell**

**Not ask?**

 

**2:29**

**He's not going to say no**

 

**2:30**

**Alright then**

**I'll tell Lou and Cecil**

 

 **_Dr.Solace_ ** _has changed the name of the chat to_ **_Spooky Cookies_ **

 

 **Dr. Solace:** Nico said yes

 **Dr. Solace:** and his cousin is taking us

 **Markofwitz:** yes!!!

 **Markofwitz:** I hate the bus

 **Markofwitz:** so many people

 **Markofwitz:** so much waiting

 **MagicBlackstone:** well you're almost old enough to get a license

 **Markofwitz:** it's so close I can taste it

 **Dr. Solace:** patience Cecil

 **Markofwitz:** I try

 **Markofwitz:** but you were there last week when they bus lurched and the guy spilled hot coffee over me

 **MagicBlackstone:** that actually looked painful

 **MagicBlackstone:** usually I laugh when he's in discomfort

 **MagicBlackstone:** but this time I tried to help

 **Markofwitz:** shut up

 **Dr. Solace:** hopefully today no one will spill coffee on you

 **Dr.Solace:** I've never seen Jason drink coffee  

 **Dr. Solace:** but I've only seen him a grand total of three times so…

 **MagicBlackstone:** what's he like???

 **Dr. Solace:** it's weird

 **Dr. Solace:** sometimes he looks like he's all sweet and he couldn't even kill a fly

 **Dr. Solace:** and other times he looks ready to kill someone and hide the evidence

 **Dr. Solace:** and i have no doubt that he could

 **Markofwitz:** awesome

 **MagicBlackstone:** the bell just rang so see you guys at the front door?

 **Dr. Solace:** yep

 **Markofwitz:** bet

 

Jason dropped them off in front of the ice cream shop before waving goodbye and supposedly heading towards Nico’s house for some cookies. The drive wasn’t too long, and Will was mostly distracted by the weird conversations everyone was having, but he still let out a sigh of relief before entering the ice cream shop behind everyone else.

Drew was at the counter like she normally was on Wednesday afternoons. Her eyes snapped away from whatever she was staring distractedly at and towards them with a smile.

“Hey!” She greeted. “The usual for all of you?”

Cecil ran up to the counter and nodded. “And get Nico a watermelon one. I owe him.”

Drew’s eyes moved towards Nico who looked like he was trying to sink in the shadows and disappear. Will walked up to him and gently tapped his hand. Nico snapped out of whatever he was thinking and quickly looked up at Drew.

“Oh! It’s you,” Drew cheered. “Didn’t bring your sister this time?”

Nico shook his head. “She’s still at school.”

“Makes sense. She’s cute. You should bring her back sometime.”

“Yeah…” A smile spread across his face.

Drew pulled out a tray and placed the four cups of ice cream on it. Cecil set down a twenty dollar bill on the table and took the tray before walking to their usual table near the back. They all followed behind him and sat down.

Cecil grabbed one of the cups and pushed it into Nico’s hands. “Taste it.”

Nico looks down at it before hesitantly taking it. Cecil passed out the rest of the ice cream to us before setting the tray down in a stack behind him on the trashcan.

“It tastes like watermelon candy,” Nico described disappointed.

“What did you expect?” Lou asked.

“I have no idea.” He took another bite and shrugged. “It’s not bad.” He held up another spoonful to his face before turning towards me. “You want to taste it?” He asked holding the spoon in between us.

Will had to admit that he was curious about how watermelon ice cream tasted. He always got the simple flavors like chocolate or strawberry.

“Sure,” he answered.

Nico smiled and held the spoon in front of him. Will put the bite in his mouth. It was an interesting taste. It tasted like a watermelon jolly rancher, but it was also creamy and had a hint of vanilla. It did taste good.

It was then that will realized that Nico’s spoon was in his mouth. The same spoon that was in his mouth a minute ago.

He immediately moved away from the spoon and nodded his head with a smile. “It’s good. Candy... watermelon but also creamy,” he stuttered.

He could feel the heat build up in his cheeks.

Nico nodded his head in agreement to his description and put another spoonful of ice cream in his mouth with a neutral expression.

Will quickly turned away and stuffed his mouth with his chocolate ice cream. Cecil and Lou Ellen both looked like they were trying not to laugh, so Will sent a glare their way before turning away. Those two were definitely not going to help his embarrassment.

His eyes locked on Drew’s who was staring at them with a fond look. She held both her hands up and gave him a thumbs up with a huge smile.

Great. She thought that was cute. That wasn’t helping him. He needed something to distract him.

“We have a chemistry test of Friday,” Will announced probably louder than he should have.

Lou Ellen groaned in front of him. “Why?”

“Because we finished a unit,” Cecil answered.

Lou Ellen sent a glare his way before looking back at him. Will was pretty sure that Lou was asking him why he chose that specific conversation topic.

“I thought you said Dr. Fig was going to get fired. When is that happening?” Lou asked.

She had a point there. After Will’s talk with the principal, he assumed that even if she didn’t get fired, someone would talk to him about it.

“I don’t know,” Will answered. “It’s almost been a month, but I haven’t heard anything.”

“At least she’s actually teaching stuff,” Nico added.

There was that at least. Dr. Fig teaching them stuff was much better than her just yelling at them. Getting a new and better teacher would have been even better, but Will was thankful for what he did get.

Lou Ellen smirked. “Yeah. And we still don’t know if it was because she knew she was going to get fired or because Nico scared her on his second day. I wish I could have seen it live.”

“I didn’t scare her,” Nico pouted as he scowled at his cup of ice cream.

“You interrupted her in the middle of her rage lecture, and she didn’t yell at you then and there.”

“If she was scared of me, she wouldn’t glare at me whenever she could or leave weird comments of my work.”

Will thought back to when he saw Nico in the halls right after that class. She definitely yelled at him after class. He wouldn’t be that upset if she didn’t. And Will knew about the glares too. He would have to be blind to not see them. And Nico had showed him the mean comments on his work.

No. Dr. Fig was not scared of Nico. That was for sure.

“She’s not scared of him,” Will stated. “She probably just found out about the investigation.”

Lou Ellen pouted and set her head on the table. “If you say so. I still want her gone though. This is our first test since your righteous rage during the last one. I’m scared.”

“Maybe she’s scared of Will,” Nico suggested.

Lou and Cecil both snorted.

“Will isn’t scary,” Lou Ellen laughed out. “But she did make all of us retake the last test because of Will, so,” she turned towards him and looked at him sharply, “if the test is hard you have to do it again.”

Will rapidly shook his head. “What? I am not doing that again just because of a difficult test.”

Cecil leaned back in his chair and smiled contently. “I’m so happy I got Ms. Recki. She’s wonderful. My favorite class of the ye….OW!”

He sprung forward and pulled his legs up in his seat. “Why Lou Ellen?” He cried.

“Shut up,” she murmured in reply.

“Take you anger out when we go pranking and not on my leg!”

“You’re going around scaring children again this year?” Will asked with a frown.

Lou and Cecil nod.

“It’s Halloween. That’s the point,” Cecil explained.

“Poor kids,” Nico whispered.

Cecil opened his mouth to say something else, but Lou Ellen sat up and yelled before he could. “Chemistry. We are studying or else I am going to gut all of you and make you next year’s Halloween decorations.”

 

At 5:30 Lou Ellen groaned and slammed her Chemistry textbook. “I’m done with this. I don’t care anymore. I want to scare children.”

She stuffed her binder into her backpack and lept out of her seat before grabbing Cecil’s arm and pulling him out of his.

“My stuff!” Cecil complained. He quickly grabbed his backpack and notebook before she pulled him away.

Drew and the other few customers looked towards them as they left the shop. Will looked back to his scattered papers and shook his head. Why couldn’t he have normal friends?

“I guess we should get going too,” Will suggested as he gathered his papers.

Will could see Nico quickly look at him before he turned back and collected his own stuff. They both finished up and walked together outside the shop.

“I guess I should call my Mom,” Will muttered. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.

He hoped his Mom picked up. She hadn’t answered any of his texts.

“Umm...I...do you want to come over?” Nico stuttered out.

Will quickly looked away from his phone and towards Nico clutching his backpack and looking at the ground.

“It’s Halloween,” Nico continued quickly. “And you should try Seph’s cookies. And we can watch Halloween movies or something…?” He kicked some rock on the ground and turned away.

Will stayed quiet for a moment trying to process what he said.

Nico had just invited him over. Will had been to Nico’s house before, but that wasn’t...fun. But right now Nico was actually asking him if he wanted to to hang out with him. Just the two of them. That meant that Nico was getting more comfortable around him and actually wanted to spend more time with him.

Will wanted to cheer and dance around on the street.

“That sounds great,” Will responded calmly.

Nico looked up and turned towards him. “Really?”

Will nodded. A smile spread across Nico’s face. “That’s great,” he cheered.

He waved his hand and started walking to the right. Will followed next to him.

“Hopefully this’ll make up for the dinner I ruined this weekend,” Nico said.

Ruined? If anyone had ruined it, it would have been their parents. Nico barely said anything. Maybe he thought that his bad day had ruined it.

“It wasn’t your fault. The whole thing fell apart as soon as it started. You didn’t really add much to it. I had fun when we went to the diner,” Will reassured.

Nico looked towards him with a dubious expression before smiling and looking away.

Will hoped he was able to convince him somewhat. At least he was smiling now. That was good.

“Seph makes really good cookies. I’m pretty confident in my cooking, but nothing I make is that good even though I hate admitting that. It sounds like I’m saying my mom couldn’t cook as well,” Nico stated changing the subject.

“My soulmark said some stuff about you cooking.”

Nico nodded. “My mom used to own a restaurant in Italy. She taught me some things, but she died before I could learn much.” He looked down and Will could see a sad smile on his face. “She kept a cookbook though, so now I’m trying to make everything.”

Will smiled. That was adorable.  
“I can’t wait to try something you made then. I’m sure it’s great,” Will said softly.

“Yeah,” Nico whispered. “My mom was really great.”

“And I’m sure you’ll keep her memory alive.”

Nico nodded and the two of them fell into silence. But it was a peaceful kind of silence that Will didn’t get around many other people in his life. Cecil and Lou Ellen were always arguing...talking about something and his mom and Andy were talkative people by nature.

Not that Will wasn’t. Will did his fair share of filling the room with noise just as much as they did, but he also wished for someone who he could just be with silently. There was much less pressure towards him not messing up.

Will looked around at the houses they passed by. Autumn was now in full swing and the trees were filled with orange and yellow leaves that hadn’t yet fallen. Some of the houses were decorated for the holiday while others were bare and looked like they probably did usually.

But the houses that were decorated? Some of them were simple and there were just jack o lanterns and some small ghosts or scarecrows. But then there were the many houses that Will really wanted to see when it got dark. Their yards were filled with pumpkins and (hopefully) fake bones and ghosts and zombies and there was fabric strung around the trees along with what Will thought were lights.

It was nice. The sights were pretty, the air was chilly, but Will's small coat was enough to keep him warm, and Nico was walking next to him with a peaceful smile on his face.

Will soon recognized one of the houses as Nico’s. It was decorated as well. Maybe not as much as the house he saw seven houses ago that had a talking skeleton and moving ghosts, but it did have some ghosts on the trees and skeleton hands reaching out from under the ground.

Nico led Will to the front door and unlocked it. A doorbell sound resounded from inside the house, and Nico led Will deeper into the house towards kitchen.

Will could clearly smell cinnamon and vanilla coming and he spotted three tray sitting on the kitchen counter. Nico threw his backpack onto one of the stools before grabbing a cookie and handing it to Will.

“You're not allergic to anything, right?” Nico asked.

Will shook his head and took the offered cookie.

It had a strong smell, but it was definitely a good one. Just that alone made Will feel all warm and fuzzy inside. He took a bite out of the sweet and melted.

There were definitely some spices in the cookie, but those mixed perfectly together with the sweet tastes of vanilla and something else that Will couldn't identify. The cookie was soft on the inside and crisp around the edges, and he couldn't stop himself from quickly eating the whole thing up.

“Good,” Will commented.

A small laugh spilled from Nico's mouth as he reached for his own cookie. “I know that,” he teased.

Will lightly punched his arm and grabbed another cookie. Will was on track to eat the entire tray himself...as long as no one stopped him.

“There you are,” Will heard someone say.

He looked up towards the entrance of the kitchen. Persephone was standing there with her hair styled up and wearing a long dark purple dress.

“Umm…” Nico answered with a raised eyebrow. “Where are you going?”

Persephone blinked a few times in what Will guessed was confusion before answering. “I told you. One of your father's co-workers invited your father and I over for a Halloween party.”

Now Nico was the one who was staring at her confused. “You did not tell me that.”

The smell of the cookie won over Will's self control, and he moved to continue eating. He didn't really have a part in this conversation anyways.

“I didn't? I could have sworn I did. I knew I was forgetting something.”

“You...you told me that your were going to take Hazel out Trick or Treating, so I didn't have to worry about it.”

“I did. But then that changed, and I apparently didn't tell you that.”

“So _I'm_ taking Hazel out?”

Will finished the cookie he was eating and grabbed another. He could see Nico's hand fold into fists and the cookie in his hand crumbled and fell to the ground. But his eyes didn’t hold that spark he saw whenever Nico was angry. He looked more anxious.

Will wasn't sure why.

“Yes,” Persephone answered hesitantly. Her eyes quickly searched the kitchen like she was trying to look for something. Her eyes soon landed on him, and a huge smile spread across her face.“And you can take Will with you,” she decided.

Will froze mid bite. Why did she suddenly decide this? Does he not get a say in his future?

Wait...He was going to go trick or treating?

“Will…” Nico started, but Will cut him off by pumping his fist into the air and cheering.

“Yes! An excuse to go trick or treating!”

“What?” Nico asked dumbstruck.

“I haven't gone trick or treating since I was thirteen. And almost everyone in that neighborhood knew my age and thought I was too old. But I love going out on Halloween night. And did you see all the houses we passed while getting here. I can't wait to see how they look at night.”

Will was practically jumping in his spot. This was great. This was amazing. Today was a wonderful day.

Persephone clapped her hands with a smile. “That's settled then.”

“What's settled?” Nico's dad asked as he walked into the kitchen.

“Will’s going with Nico and Hazel Trick or Treating,” she explained.

“Oh. Well, have fun then.”

Nico grabbed another cookie from the pile and quickly bit into it. His dad looked at him worriedly before deciding that it might be best to not ask.

“Shall we go?” He asked Persephone instead.

She nodded her head. “Don't stay out too late. We should be back by midnightish.”

The two of them left the kitchen, and Will soon heard the doorbell sound meaning the two of them had left the house.

Nico was still munching on the cookies when he turned back to him.

“You okay?” Will asked.

Nico nodded his head and swallowed. “You can go home if you want.”

Will rolled his eyes. Is that what he was worrying about? “I'm pretty sure I'm more excited to go than Hazel right now.”

Nico scoffed. “I doubt it. She's been wearing her costume at home all week. I've already had to wash it since she dropped spaghetti all over it.”

“Oh...well then I guess I retract my previous statement. But I am excited, so don't think that I don't want to go. I actually meant what I said before.”

Nico smiled and opened his mouth to say something, but before he could Hazel ran into the room and started jumping up and down in front of us.

“It's 6:00! It's 6:00! We can go now!” She cheered.

Nico sighed. “Look what I have to deal with.”

Will laughed. Hazel was definitely more excited than he was.

It looked like she decided to dress up as a witch this year. She had a purple dress with laced layers and a black belt. A purple and black hat sat on her head and she had a tiny broom with straw ends in her hand.

Nico grabbed another cookie before walking up to her.

“Okay. Let's go,” he said happily.

Hazel stopped jumping and stared at him. “You need to wear a costume too,” she pouted.

Nico frowned. “I do not.”

“You wore one last year.”

Nico sighed. “I didn't wear a costume last year. Some guy at school threw a pirate hat at me, so I kept it, and I knew that his mom always gives the best candy, so I wore it to spite him.” Nico smiled. “And then we saw him in his apartment, so I threw the hat back at him, and when his mom was confused, I took two more candy bars from her bowl.”

Will covered his mouth to stop himself from shooting cookie pieces from his mouth all over the kitchen when he laughed. Will wished he could have seen that happen.

“But you still have to wear a costume this year,” Hazel argued. She grabbed Nico's hand and started dragging him out the kitchen. Or at least she tried to. At some point, Nico just gave up and slowly followed her out of the kitchen. Will quickly picked up two more cookies and followed behind them.

They ended up in what Will guessed was Hazel's room. It was painted a light purple and white curtains hung in front of the two windows. The rest of the room also followed the purple and white theme with the furniture being white and the bedsheets and small rug in the center being light shades of purple. In the corner away from her bed there were toys and small houses and other things scattered around. Her walls were covered with pinned up photographs as well as pictures that Will assumed she drew herself. Near the closet there was a white box that Hazel was currently digging through while Nico leaned against the wall with a bored expression.

“Found it!” Hazel called.

Nico sat down and Hazel ran up to him and put something on his head.

“There. Now you're my familiar,” she announced.

Nico pulled the thing off his head before Will could get a proper look and stared down at it after he put it on his lap.

“Hazel, I love you, but I am not wearing cat ears.”

Will walked closer and saw that Nico was indeed holding black, furry cat ears.

“You're already wearing all black. And it fits with my costume.”

“It's my dancing skeleton shirt.”

“And I have a tail too. And I can draw whiskers on your face with a marker.”

Will snorted, but covered his mouth. Nico would probably not appreciate him laughing.

“Hazel…” Nico started.

“Please!” Hazel pouted with big round eyes.

Nico opened his mouth, but closed his mouth and sighed instead. “Fine.”

“Yay!” She cheered. She ran to a desk sitting near the toy pile and opened a drawer. Nico put the cat ears back on his head with a frown.

Will laughed softly before sitting down next to Nico. “It won't be that bad.”

“The next chance I get, I'm drawing on your face in sharpie.”

That made Will shut up. He had no doubt that Nico would actually go through with the threat. He actually spilled his entire bottle of apple juice on Cecil because he wouldn't shut up. And apparently he threw a hat at a guy and ran off with their candy.

Hazel came back soon holding a marker in her hand. She snapped it, but Nico stopped her before she drew whiskers on him.

“Is it washable?” He asked.

Hazel shook her head and tried to draw on his face again, but Nico grabbed the marker out of her hand.

“I'll wear the cat ears, but you are NOT drawing on my face with a permanent marker!”

“It comes off eventually.”

“No! I have limits. Get your candy bucket, and we're leaving.”

“Nico.”

“No!”

“Wear the tail.”

Nico groaned and stood up. “Fine. But can we just go.”

Hazel nodded. She ran over to her bed while Nico picked up the tail from the ground.

“What am I doing?”

Will shrugged. “I don't know. I'm here for the decorations.”

“You're terrible. You didn't even try to help.”

“It was entertaining.”

Nico shook his head and hooked the fake cat tail to his belt before turning towards him. “There. I wore a costume.”

And that's when Will finally noticed how he looked. The black headband blended into his hair and made it look like there were actually two cat ears sitting on top of Nico’s head.

“Cute.”

Why did Will say that? Why did he open his mouth?

Nico stared at him for a few seconds before Will could see his cheeks turn pink, and he looked down.

“Shut up Solace.”

Well, Will should have expected that, but the blush on Nico's cheeks did make him look even cuter. Not that Will would say that out loud again.

Hazel soon ran up to him with her pumpkin shaped candy pail and a fireman hat.

“You need a costume too,” she said handing him the hat.

Will shrugged and took it. He found it cute that Hazel was comfortable enough around him to make him wear a hat. He was accepted.

“Now we collect all the candy!” Hazel cheered.

 

Trick or treating could have gone better.

They got lost while getting candy since none of them were actually familiar with all of the roads in the neighborhood, so they ended up walking around to places they had already been for half an hour. But they did get lots of candy so that was a good thing.

There were also some decorations that completely terrified Hazel, and at one point she even started crying, and Nico had to calm her down. But the decorations were definitely worth seeing, and all of the decorations Will had seen earlier did look better at night. And seeing Nico calm Hazel down was adorable, so bonus points for Will there.

There were also some weirdos they ran into who tried to...hit on Hazel? That was all weird. Nico punched them before spamming their own door in the creeps faces and leaving. Hazel had no idea what was going on, so she was upset that she didn't get candy. At least none of them got hurt.

And there were also those other weirdos who tried to hit on Nico and took cat calling to another level. Nico ended up looking like he was going to have a panic attack, so Will took something out of Nico's book and threw his fireman hat at them before leading Nico and Hazel away. That was terrible, but Will felt kinda like a badass, so there's that.

And then it started raining. But best luck of the night, they were right next to Nico's house and they could quickly run inside.

“Well, that was terrible,” Nico said as he collapsed onto the couch.

It was 8:30 now, so Nico had gone upstairs to get Hazel changed and in bed. None of them were in the mood for dinner. Will sat down next to Nico's tired form. “It could have been worse.”

Nico grumbled something that Will couldn't understand and then nodded his head. He turned over, so he was lying on his back and could look up at Will.

“Are you going home now?” Nico asked softly.

Will pulled out his phone. His mom still hadn't answered any of his messages. He was starting to get worried.

“I'll call my mom,” Will decided. He dialed her number and got up from the couch to leave the room, but Nico grabbed his arm and stopped him before he could.

“Stay,” he whispered.

Will immediately backed up and sat back down. He couldn't say no to a half asleep Nico _still_ wearing cat ears.

His mom picked up on the third ring.

“Hello?” She greeted.

“Hey Mom.”

“Oh. Will. Where are you?”

Will froze. Seriously?

“I...I sent you like fifty texts. Did you read any of them?”

“Did you? Huh? Andy and I have been... _busy._ And I’m kinda tired now. _”_

Every year. Every year it happens and every year Will forgets. But then again it's only been three years. And maybe somewhere deep inside he hoped against hope that it would happen that year.

“Why Mom?”

“I'm not that old. Stop acting like this is weird. I'm in my mid 30s.”

She doesn't even try to deny it. Will hated everything.

“Late 30s. And you're my mom,” Will sighed. “So...I'm not coming home. I'll see you tomorrow morning... maybe.”

He didn’t need to change clothes, right? It was just school.

“So where are you?” She asked.

“Nico's house. We took Hazel trick or treating.”

“Oh! Tell Persephone I said hi!”

Will chuckled. “I would but she's not here. Nico's parents went to some party.”

“Oh?” And Will could imagine her raising her eyebrows and smiling.

“Mom. No.”

“I'm kidding! Have a good night though. I'll see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah. Bye.”

Will hung up the phone and sighed. Now he would have to call Cecil and somehow get to his house. Just like he did every year.

“You're staying here?” Nico asked. His eyes were still closed, but it seemed he was conscious enough to understand their conversation.

“My mom and Andy are...I'm not going home.”

“So you're staying here. We have two guest rooms.” Nico opened his eyes and stared at him as if he was daring him to say no.

Will smiled and put his phone back in his pocket.

“I guess I'm staying here,” Will told him.

Nico smiled and sat up. “I invited you over to watch Halloween movies. You want to watch one?”

Nico’s eyes were still droopy, and he looked tired, but Will decided that it would be better for Nico to fall asleep instead of forcing him too. According to him, he didn’t get much sleep when he tried.

“Which one? I don't think I'm in mood for horror,” Will answered.  

“Agreed.”

Nico got up from the couch and walked over to the TV to pick up the remote. He turned it on and went to Netflix.

“We could watch the Nightmare before Christmas,” Nico suggested as he sat back down.

“That's a Christmas movie.”

Nico frowned and clicked on the movie. “It's a Halloween movie. They confirmed this.”

Will shook his head and crossed his arms. “I still think it's a Christmas movie.”

Nico glared at him and Will sent a glare back. They stayed that way until the movie started playing and both of them started laughing. And well, Will had seen Nico laugh before. But this was different. This was the first time Will had heard Nico full out laugh. His eyes were closed and his mouth was open and with continuous laughter that travelled up his body.

And that? That made Will really happy. He was able to make Nico actually laugh. He was getting somewhere. _They_ were getting somewhere. And that was great.

Nico leaned back on the couch and looked towards the TV.

“This is my Dad's favorite Disney movie,” Nico said.

Will thought of Mr. Di Angelo and his dark aura and matching dark clothes, but at the same time the weird kindness and care in his eyes.

“Yeah. I can see it. Is it not yours?” Will asked bumping his shoulder.

Nico smiled. “When I was a kid, Bianca and I watched the Goofy Movie a lot.”

Will's eyes widened. “The Goofy movie? Seriously?”

That was definitely not the movie he expected at all.

“Yeah,” Nico continued. “Now I like Big Hero 6.”

“That sounds more like something you would like.”

“It's a good movie. And...and it came out at a good time.”

“G…”

Will stopped himself. The expression on Nico’s face was enough for him to figure it out.

Bianca.

“We can watch Big Hero 6 next time,” Will suggested softly.

Nico nodded before punching his arm and pointing at the TV. “We're missing the movie.”

 

Will was surprised that it took half of the movie for Nico to get tired enough to collapse. He _was_ surprised when Nico's head collapsed on his shoulder though.

“Umm...you alright Nico?” Will asked hesitantly.

Nico nodded. “Tired.”

Will smiled fondly. “I can see that. How much did you sleep last night?”

Nico shrugged. “Two hours maybe. I don't know.”

That made Will almost jump, but he held himself down. “That's...that's not good Nico.”

Of course it's not good Will. Nico definitely knows that too. It's not his fault he has nightmares.

“I know. But...I did wake up feeling happy today. And I'm still pretty happy now.” He snuggled into Will's shoulder. “Today was a good day.”

“Should I help you get to bed?”

Nico shook his head. “You're warm.”

Warm? Will was sure Nico's blankets we're warm too. They were also more comfortable.

But Nico seemed to want to fall asleep on Will's shoulder and who was he to deny him. He could carry him to bed later. Or maybe just bring some blankets to the sofa. The sofa was comfortable too.

Nico wrapped his arms around Will's arm and pulled himself closer. Will turned towards him and the cat ears brushed against his chin.

How was one person allowed to be this cute?

Will brought his free hand around and slowly started brushing his fingers through Nico's hair. Nico let out a happy sigh and buried his face further into Will's shoulder.

“Thanks for coming with us,” Nico whispered.

“Trick or treating?” Will asked just as softly.

Nico nodded. “I’ve never been trick or treating here before. I was kinda scared something bad would happen. And it probably would have if you didn’t help. You threw a fireman hat at someone.”

“You inspired me.”

Nico let out a small laugh. It took a few more minutes for his breathing to even out and his entire body to slump against Will’s. Will carefully removed the cat ears from his head and lightly threw them onto the coffee table.

He looked back towards Nico peacefully sleeping on him. Hopefully today he would get some sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's another chapter. I am really sorry that it took so long! I had a case of writer's block, and a lot of things happened recently including my cousin's wedding.  
> But hopefully I'll be able to release chapter weekly now...let's hope.
> 
> If you want, you can talk to me (and remind me to write chapters) on my tumblr! I don't use it much now, but maybe I can start.  
> Click here: https://skyla-schultz.tumblr.com/ or search skyla-schultz  
> Feel free to send suggestions for what you want to see in the future or any other prompts you would want me to write! Or just come over to talk!
> 
> Thank you to all of you who have commented!!! I love reading comments and it always makes me feel all fuzzy.  
> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!  
> Thank you for reading!  
> I hope you all have a great day or night wherever you live! :)


	11. Tacos and Theater

Nico learned a lot of things on Halloween.

Because of some of the things he learned, he no longer trusted some of the people in his neighborhood, and he was hoping he would never have to talk to them again. He was also really hoping that the guy he punched didn’t press any charges. But it had been a week since then now, so he wasn’t too worried anymore.

He also learned what watermelon ice cream tasted like and that Lou Ellen was really bad at Math. Cecil and Lou Ellen also like pranking kids on Halloween. He really hoped they didn’t mentally scar any of the children and give them nightmares. Nico had asked them about what they did, but neither of them really gave a response.

The most important thing he learned was that he should not be around people when he was sleep deprived. Well, maybe not people, but he most definitely should not be left alone with Will when he was running off of less than three hours of sleep.

The first time that happened he ended up lashing out at him. The second time he worried him because of how anxious he was acting. And this time, well, this time took the prize for the worst thing he could do with no sleep. He wished that being sleep deprived was like being drunk and he could just forget about everything. Or at least, that’s what he heard about being drunk. He didn’t know for sure. He had never been drunk, nor did he ever want to be.

But that sadly led him to remembering every stupid thing that he had done.

Everything about spending time with Will that day wasn’t bad. He got to see Will throw a hat at someone and argue about whether of not The Nightmare Before Christmas was a Halloween movie or a Christmas movie. (It was a Halloween movie. Why was this a question?)

But then he also did things that he knew he would never have if he was more...there. Like, he would not even think about feeding Will his ice cream from his own spoon. Nico really wanted to know what he was thinking then. He guessed he wasn't thinking much since he went through with it.

And then he invited Will over...which Nico wasn't too upset about. He could imagine himself doing that even if he was running on ten hours of sleep. But then Will had to go with Hazel and him trick or treating and that was a mess. He wasn't even thinking of the part that his whole neighborhood had seen him dressed as a cat. Even if he did get enough sleep the previous night, there were few times in his life where he would be able to deny Hazel anything when she asked him with her pouting expression.

He was spoiling her.

But of course the worst part of sleep deprived Nico was when he finally decided that he was actually tired and wanted to sleep. Of course sleepy Nico doesn't care about where, so he fell asleep on Will. Great. Just great.

And of course Will was staying over for the night, so he couldn't just avoid him to avoid his own awkwardness the next day. And this time Nico had actually slept for eight hours. It was a miracle. No nightmares. No random waking up in the middle of the night. He felt well rested for the first time in months. Maybe he should sleep on the couch more often.

So of course he was now thinking more clearly and internally scolding his past self. At least Will didn't mention anything. He didn't act strange at all really. Nico was extremely thankful. He wasn't entirely sure how he would respond if Will asked.

Or maybe Will just really liked his blueberry pancakes and Nico had effectively distracted him. Either way, Nico was grateful. There were many things Nico hated, and having awkward conversations about his own stupidity was one of them.

So all in all, Halloween wasn't too bad. Seph made cookies, he got ice cream, he now knew which neighbors not to trust, they collected a lot of candy, Will hadn't brought up the weird things he did, and Nico was able to learn more about himself. He could easily imagine Jason tearing up at his display of optimism.

But because Nico learned that he could not trust himself when he was half asleep, he immediately decided not to invite Will to Jason's school’s play.

Jason and his friends had been part of theater since Freshman year, but Nico lived on the other side of the country before, so he had never seen Jason act.

Nico didn't really care either way. They were performing Othello. Nico had read the play during his English class last year, and he didn't really have any strong feelings towards it. But Jason was acting, and he seemed happy when Nico said he would come, so he wouldn't disappoint him.

He would, however, disappoint him by not inviting Will to come see it. Jason, being Jason, asked Nico to come the day the play was actually supposed to happen. He didn't have any plans, so he agreed. When Jason told him that he should ask Will and his friends to come too, Nico quickly declined. Halloween was a week ago, and Nico knew that he wasn't to be trusted when he got less than three hours of sleep.

He didn't even have a weird nightmare about his memories this time. It was some strange dream about a girl with purple hair going around killing people and eating their flesh. Nico had no idea where that dream came from, but it freaked him out and led to him not being able to go back to sleep.

Nico's brain loved him so much that it not only gave him nightmares about previous trauma, but it also let him have nightmares that left him flinching at every sound thinking that some flesh eating psychopath had teleported into his room to massacre his entire family!

But Nico got barely any sleep, so he knew that he would probably end up doing something weird again, and he did not want Will to deal with it. So he ended up convincing Seph to come (not that it was hard).

If Nico maybe wished that he could invite Will just to have an excuse to cuddle with him again, then, well, he would keep that to himself.

  
  


“Why Leo? Why?”

There was still some time before the play started when Persephone and Nico got there, so Nico decided to go find Jason while Seph saved them seats. Jason had told him that he had to help Leo set some stuff up in the Cafeteria, so he decided to start searching there. He did end up finding them, but he didn't expect to find them surrounded by containers filled with tacos sitting on the table. From Jason's tone, Nico could guess that he wasn't expecting to be in that situation either.

“I got a _bit_ carried away,” Leo replied with a nervous laugh.

Jason groaned in disbelief. “How do you accidentally make 200 tacos?!”

That...that was a very good question.

Leo laughed nervously and started wringing his wrists. “Well you see, I was only going to make forty tacos.”

“That's still a lot of tacos,” Jason muttered.

“But then I lost count, so I just kept making tacos. And then Nyssa came in, and she started making tacos with me, and before we knew it, there were 200 tacos.”

“And you decided to bring them _all_ here?”

“Everyone was bringing food anyways! And I need to get rid of them somehow!”

Jason and Leo were clearly caught up in their argument. Neither of them seemed to notice Nico enter the room or walk closer to them. At this point Nico was standing behind them next to three containers of tacos sitting on the table. Nico would guess that there were around twenty tacos in each of the bins.

“Who's going to eat 200 tacos? There are only forty one of us in cast and crew combined. To eat all of these everyone would need to eat five.”

Nico quietly opened one of the taco bins. This bin looked like it had fish tacos in it.

The smell wafted up from the bin and towards Nico's nose. He had eaten dinner before coming, but one taco wouldn't hurt would it? And it wasn’t like Leo didn't already have way too many.

He grabbed one of the tacos and set the lid back on the container. He took a bite out of it, and the loud crunch is what finally got Jason and Leo's attention.

The taco was great just like most of the things Leo made. Jason had once told him that tacos were Leo’s speciality, and Nico was finally understanding why.

“This is good,” Nico commented.

Good was an understatement. This was amazing.

Leo puffed out his chest in pride. “Of course it is. I made it.”

“Or Nyssa made it,” Jason added. “You know, since she made some of these tacos too. And by some, I'm guessing like sixty since the total amount is 200!”

“199 now,” Leo corrected.

Jason sighed, and Nico assumed that their taco conversation wasn't over. Nico didn't have any part in it, so he took another bite of his taco while listening  

“What do we do with 199 tacos? You're going to have to take most of them back anyways. Why did you bring them?”

Leo shrugged. “No room in the fridge.”

“Then what do we do them?”

Nico found it amusing that Jason was this annoyed by Leo making too many tacos. It's wasn't like something terrible would happen if the tacos weren't all eaten, and considering how long the two of them have been friends, Jason was probably used to Leo’s strange antics. Nico decided that it was probably the stress of having to be on stage soon getting to him.

But Jason would probably feel better if he didn't have tacos stressing him out while on stage, so Nico proposed an idea.

“You could just hand them out to the audience while they leave. Keep some for the theater people and hand the rest out. People like free food.”

Jason and Leo both stared at him for a few seconds before Leo rapidly started nodding his head.

“Perfect! Cause I really don't have room in the fridge.”

“That could work,” Jason remarked. “You'd just need to run here as soon as the show ends and start passing out tacos.”

“Yeah that,” Nico adds looking towards the clock. “The one that starts in ten minutes.”

Jason and Leo quickly turned towards the clock. Jason's eyes widened and he immediately ran out of the room without another word.

“Reyna's gonna kill me,” Leo muttered. He turned towards Nico and smiled mischievously. Nico did not like that expression. “Nicaroo. I put you on taco duty. Any money you make you can keep. Good luck!”

“Wait! What?!”

But instead of answering him, Leo ran out the door with a laugh. Nico sighed and shoved the rest of his taco into his mouth.

Oh well. People were interesting when it came to free food. Maybe something entertaining would happen.

Nico stared down at the container that he got his taco from.

And maybe he can also hide one if the boxes and keep them for himself.

  


Nico got back to the auditorium five minutes before the play was supposed to start. He found Seph sitting in the middle seats. He sat down in the empty seat next to her and told her about what happened in the cafeteria. She laughed during the story and agreed with his plan to take one of the taco boxes home. No one will miss it.

The play started a couple minutes after 7. Well, the teacher came out and started talking to them about the play and all the hard work put into it a couple minutes after 7. The play started a few minutes after that. The lights in the audience section dimmed, and the curtain was moved away to reveal the stage and the two people on it.

Nico didn't remember Othello perfectly, but he remembered that the play started out with the antagonist, Iago, and one of his “friends” Roderigo.

The play started as Nico remembered it. From the dialogue, Nico assumed that the light brown hair guy was Iago while the darker haired one was Roderigo. And that's when Nico realized that they were speaking in modern English and not Shakespearean. And they weren’t speaking in cringy, fake accents either. Maybe this play was actually going to be entertaining.

Jason’s friend Piper came up on stage a little while later as Desdemona. Nico hadn’t met her as many times as he had met Leo or Reyna, but from the few times he saw her, he could tell that she was an amazing person. She helped Leo with his weird projects and even suggested some of her own, but at the same time she could get all serious and shut someone down with just one glare. She was a likeable person, and she was also clearly a natural on stage. Her dad was an actor though, so that might have something to do with it.

Jason came on stage as Cassio. It was strange. Nico couldn’t really think of anything that Jason had in common with Cassio, but Jason seemed to fit the role really well. Nico had seen videos of Jason in his past plays and his stage presence had never been this good before. He wasn’t sure whether is was because of him having more experience or because he could weirdly connect to Cassio as a character. Nico could ask him later.

The play went smoothly...or as far as Nico could tell it was going smoothly. Watching Jason chasing a guy with stick trying to kill him was definitely the highlight of Nico’s day. Oh...wait. Nevermind. The highlight of Nico’s day was now hearing Leo shouting “oh shit” over a microphone he probably didn’t realize was on while Jason tried to convince Piper that he wasn’t actually trying to kill a guy and he wanted his job back. He could see the disappointment flash through both of their eyes when it happened.

Today was not turning out to be a good day for Leo is seemed. First the tacos and now this. Reyna was going to murder him if she hadn’t already done so.

Other than that hilarious event, the play was great. All of the actors were entirely in character. Nico especially noticed that with Iago and Emilia’s characters. Iago’s tone of voice and the look in his eyes convinced him that he was some devious villain  with the intellect and power to ruin people’s lives. And Emilia’s actor actually looked like she hated the world.

The play ended at 9:14 with Jason pulling Iago’s actor away from the stage. Nico took that as his que to go get Leo’s tacos. He whispered as much to Seph and quietly made his exit from the auditorium. He really hoped he remembered how to get to the cafeteria.

  


Nico couldn’t carry all of the boxes himself and Leo had said to leave some for the cast and crew, so he picked up six and carefully made his way back to the auditorium. It would be really bad if the boxes at the top of the pile fell and tacos spilled everywhere. He did not want to clean that mess up.

Thankfully people were just starting to leave when Nico got there. Now he just needed to hand the tacos out somehow.

Somehow. He really should have thought that over on the way. How was he supposed to let the people know that he had free tacos?

Nico slowly set the containers down on the floor before opening the top one up. This one looked like it had beef tacos. He set that one of the ground and opened the next one in the pile. Fish. And the third one had tofu. And the fourth had more fish.

He really hoped that he left all three kinds in the cafeteria for the theater people. He was not going back to check.

Now he just needed people to know that they were free. The easiest way was to probably yell.

Alright Nico. He could do this.

“Umm...free tacos,” he stuttered out. It was louder than his usual voice but not loud enough to get through the building crowd of people leaving the auditorium.

He needed to shout louder or else everyone would leave without knowing that there was free food. And then all the tacos would go to waste since there was nowhere to put them. Maybe everyone Leo knew could take a box home. That would work.

But Leo trusted him with getting rid of them, and he was going to do it.

Come on Nico. This was just a crowd of a bunch of people you don't know or care about and you probably won't have to interact with most of them ever again. It doesn't matter if you make yourself look like an idiot.

“Free tacos for anyone who watched the play!”

There that was better. Hopefully.

“Did you say free?”

Nico spun around and came face to face with a girl with bright green eyes and long blonde hair. She was a couple inches shorter than him and definitely looked happier to be here than he did. A bright smile was on her face showing off a dimple on each of her freckled cheeks, and her eyes shone with excitement.

“Umm...yes!” Nico answered. “One of the crew members made them. There's beef, fish, and tofu.” Nico pointed to the containers near the wall. “Take as many as you would like. We're trying to get rid of them since he made too many. They're really good though!”

The girl stared at the tacos with amazement before pumping her fist in the air and yelling, “Free dinner!”

That caught everyone else's attention and soon people were waiting in line to pick up a free taco. It didn't take long for the containers to start emptying up.

Leo showed up when they were down to a box of tofu and a box of beef tacos. He had a panicked look in his eyes like he was in a hurry.

“Did it work?” He asked quickly.

Nico decided to ignore his odd behavior. He was probably just running away from the rest of the crew before they murdered him.

“We're down to two boxes. Both of which tacos have been taken from. And I left three boxes in the cafeteria.”

“That's awesome! I'm so glad that worked. I didn't want all that effort to go to waste.”

He seemed more calm now. There wasn't a crazy look in his eyes, and he wasn't moving around like he was prepared to run any second.

He probably shouldn't have calmed down.

“LEO VALDEZ!” Nico recognized that voice as Reyna's, and from the looks on Leo's face, he was right.

“I...uhh...I need to go. See you later Nicaroo.”

And with that Leo ran off towards the direction of the cafeteria. Maybe he was hoping he could hide under one of the tables.

Reyna showed up and stopped next to him as soon as Leo turned the corner into another hallway and out of sight.

Her face was relaxed and anyone would probably think she was as well. But a fire burned in her eyes and her clenched fists gave away the rage inside of her.

“Where is he?” She asked calmly.

And this is where Nico got two seconds to decide whether he should spare Leo's life or not.

Today he decided that he would. Leo had given him tacos after all.

“Where's who?” Nico answered. He really hoped his voice didn't give him away.

“Leo. Where is he? I have something to talk to him about.”

Yes she did. She was going to murder Leo with her words is what she's going to do. She probably only held off before because she was busy being in charge and making sure the play was going alright...or at least that there would be no more mistakes.

“You know where Leo should be?” Nico asked. “He should be here handing out his tacos himself. But he's not. Instead, he tasked me with making sure the tacos were taken.”

Reyna raised her eyebrows and her eyes drifted over to the containers. “Why...why are you giving away tacos?”

“Because Leo made 200, and he had nowhere to put them. Better to give them away for free than let them go to waste.”

Reyna stared at the tacos for another second before shaking her head and turning back towards him.

“There are more tacos in the cafeteria,” Nico added.

Reyna sighed. “I suppose I'll go look for Leo there then. And if I don't find him, maybe some food will make me feel better.”

“I thought Leo was the best part of the play.”

Reyna sent a glare his way, but Nico could tell that she didn't mean it by the smile that played on her lips.

“Not everyone agrees.”

“Maybe not. But it definitely made half the audience's night.”

“I suppose. I would probably laugh if I was in the audience too.”

“Leo being an idiot is always funny.”

Reyna sighed and rubbed at her temple. “I just...how does the smartest person I know also turn out to be such an idiot.”

Nico shrugged and gave a look towards the containers. It looked like only the tofu tacos were left.

“He went through rigorous training to be who he is.”

“I'm sure.”

“But he still has a good heart, and I doubt he _tried_ to mess up the play. Go easy on him.”

Reyna hummed. “I suppose. But he better not mess up like that again.”

“If he does it again, he’s beyond saving.”

A short laugh fell from Reyna and Nico soon joined in. It stopped with the sound of Reyna's stomach rumbling. Heat rised in her cheeks and, she turned away to hide it.

“You should probably head to the cafeteria and fill your stomach.”

“Good plan.” Her eyes went to the almost empty container of tacos. “Do you want me to stay and help you here?”

Nico shook his head. Reyna may not seem like it at times because of her usual stoic expression, but she was an extremely thoughtful person. She wasn't the best with words, but she always tried her best to help those she could.

And that included him. She didn't know the whole story, but Jason had told her about his...unusual actions when Reyna forced it out of him after seeing him have a panic attack when some angry cashier started yelling at him.

Nico wouldn't go as far as saying that the two of them were friends, but he wanted to think that if either of them tried they could be. And Nico was all about trying to form relationships recently, so maybe he could try. She _was_ one of the few people who’s number he had.

And if that worked out maybe he could try becoming friends with Leo and Piper too. Friends were good after all. He couldn't rely on Valerie all the time. She lived on the other side of the country now. And while he wanted to consider Lou Ellen and Cecil his friends, they were more Will’s friends than his.

Reyna's stomach growled again, and Nico had to hold back his laugh. He could work on becoming better friends with her later. This conversation was a good first step.

“I'll be fine. The tacos are almost done anyways.”

“If you're sure.”

Nico nodded. “I'm sure. Go get yourself something to eat.”

Reyna opened her mouth to say something else, but she must of decided against it since she smiled instead.

“If you say so. Come get yourself something to eat when you're done here too if you want.”

Nico did need to go back to give Leo his boxes back anyways. No one would mind if he shagged a few cookies or cupcakes too would they?

“I'll stop by in a couple minutes. As soon as the tacos are done and I figure out where Persephone is.”

Reyna nodded. “See you later then.”

“See you.”

She gave the hallway one last glance before disappearing around the corner.

It took another fifteen minutes before the last few stragglers exited the auditorium and three out of the four tacos left were taken.

Nico really didn't want to stand around by himself in the hallway anymore, so he decided it would be best to pick the containers up and head to the cafeteria. He could that last taco himself if he had to.

He stacked the containers on top of each other and picked up the pile. Sadly, his tower was not balanced enough and all the containers fell down to the floor.

“You need some help there?” A voice behind him asked. A really familiar voice.

And that made Nico want to forget the containers and just run away.

So that's what he decided to do. Or, that was the plan until his arm was grabbed and he was pulled back.

“Let go!”

The grip on his arm became stronger as he struggled to get away. He turned and glared, but he hesitated after actually seeing him.

Why? Why? Why?! Why was Mr. Henryson here? Sure, Jason did say that Mr. Henryson’s nephew went here, but that was three weeks, almost a month, ago. Why was he still here?

“What do you want?” He hissed. Or at least he hoped it came out as a hiss and not a whimper.

“I just saw you standing here, so I thought I would say hi.”

“Well, you said it, so can I go?”

Nico could feel his breaths getting quicker. He needed to get away from here. Away. Away. Away.

“Why the rush? You immediately left last time too. It’s like you hate me.”

Nico needed to calm down. Maybe if he appeased him, Mr. Henryson would let him go. It’s not like he could do anything in the hallway. Nico could see a camera right in front of him and anyone could show up at any time.

Nico just needed to talk to him, and he would let him go.

“Why are you here?” Nico asked.

Mr. Henryson loosened his grip on Nico’s arm and pointed to the auditorium with his free hand. “ My nephew was in the play, so I came to watch.”

His nephew? He was in theater? And Mr. Henryson actually spent time out of his day to come watch him perform?

Actually, wait. That just went back to his first question.

“Why are you _here_? Shouldn’t your vacation be over?”

A dark look passed over Mr. Henryson’s face, and the grip on Nico’s arm tightened.

What was with people gripping on Nico’s arm lately?

“Vacation? Oh no. My wife’s sister’s wife died, so we decided to come here to comfort her. It was supposed to just be a trip, but we ended up staying here long term instead. I do have an online job now, so it didn’t matter to me. We might even move here.”

What?

That answer was a lot, but one thing struck out more than the others. Much more.

“Moving? Here?” He whimpered.

Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

That’s why they moved in the first place. To get away from everything and not have him accidentally run into...one of them. Seeing Mr. Henryson in school was bad enough. At least then he expected it. Now he could show up anywhere. Nico had already run into him twice. And his nephew apparently went to the same school as Jason. Was he supposed to avoid Jason’s school now too?

“Are you here alone Nico? Or did you bring that blond boy with you from the bookstore. Your _soulmate_ correct? What was his name...Bill?”

“Will,” Nico corrected automatically pushing away his thoughts.

Why was he talking about Will?

“Yes him! Is he here?”

Nico narrowed his eyes, but shook his head. “He’s not here.”

“Oh?” His expression looked concerned but his eyes shone with amusement. Nico had seen this expression enough times to know he wasn’t actually concerned. “Did he get tired of you already?”

Of course. Of course he asked that.

“No. He just didn’t come. I didn’t ask him to.”

Mr. Henryson smiled sadly and patted Nico’s shoulder with fake comfort. “Too scared to mess this up? What for? You’re going to do it eventually anyways.”

And well, if it was a month ago, Nico would have believed him. Heck, if Nico had gotten more sleep, he probably would have believed him. But right now, Nico was tired and annoyed, so his chest sparked with anger instead hopelessness.

“Why do you think that? Your soulmate stayed with you, and you’re much worse than me. At least I care about other people.”

Mr. Henryson’s eyes narrowed into anger. “My wife doesn’t hate me.”

Nico hummed. “I’m sure. I’m sure she just loves the guy who actually cheated on her with a 14 year old. But wait. She doesn’t know about that. But I don’t see your wife here, so there must be a reason for that. She wasn’t at the bookstore either. Want to share.”

And well, if Nico was more awake and less angry, he might have been scared of the expression on Mr. Henryson’s face. But Nico was really tired right now. Tired of everything. And that included people telling him that Will was going to hate him. He got enough of that from himself. He didn’t need some evil teacher telling him.

“She’s just busy,” Mr. Henryson argued.

“I bet.”

It seemed that Nico had struck a chord with him. Nico didn’t know if there was actually anything going on with Mr. Henryson’s wife and him. He just brought that up because of the Will comment. But it looked to him that there actually might be something up with his relationship with his wife.

Or at least Nico decided to assume that based on the pure anger on his face and the tightening hold on Nico’s arm. He really needed to get out of here.

“Hey!” A voice shouted from the stairs next to him.

Both of them turned towards the voice, and Nico sighed with relief. Mr. Henryson immediately let go of his arm and stormed away without another word. Bless Jason and his superpower of always showing up at the right time.

Jason ran down the stairs and stood next to him with a panicked expression. “Nico? Are you okay?”

And that finally made Nico think about what just happened. Mr. Henryson was there. Mr. Henryson was planning to move here. Nico had argued back.

All of the anger sparked out, and Nico was flooded with the waves of panic  he was holding back the entire time. He sank to the floor and gasped out. His breathes came out fast as a sharp pain erupted in his chest. His vision blurred with tears and flash of heat spread through his body causing a headache to strike through his head.

That happened. That had actually happened. All of it.

What the hell?

“Nico. Nico. Come on buddy. Breathe. You can do it. You’re okay. It’s just me and you here.”

Jason. He sounded so far away. So far. So far.

Nico was so tired. And this hurt. It hurt so much. He wanted to sleep. He was so tired.

“Nico? Come on. Breathe with me.”

Too much. Too much. Nico just wanted to sleep. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep...

  


**10:58**

**You want to be a doctor, right?**

**What’s the best medicine for headaches?**

 

**11:02**

**…**

**Tylenol?**

 

**11:04**

**Alright then**

**How many is too much?**

**Six?**

 

**11:05**

**You take 2 Nico!!!**

**2!!!!**

 

**11:07**

**Fine**

 

**11:09**

**What gave you the headache?**

 

**11:14**

**I had a panic attack and passed out**

**And then I woke up a few minutes ago with a bad headache and no energy**

 

**11:15**

**Do you feel better?**

 

**11:17**

**Just a headache**

**Maybe i’ll fall asleep before I take the Tylenol**

**I’m really tired**

 

**11:20**

**Then why are you texting me?**

 

**11:22**

**I wanted to distract myself and I’m too lazy to get up**

 

**11:23**

**Go to sleep Nico**

 

**11:25**

**What does your arm say?**

 

**11:28**

**...**

**My soulmark?**

**“Umm...free tacos.”**

**Where were these free tacos and why didn’t I get one?**

 

**11:34**

**Leo made too many, so I handed them out for free**

**Leo is Jason’s friend**

 

**11:37**

**Well, i hope you got some good tacos too**

**11:46**

**Nico?**

**12:05**

**I really hope you went to sleep**

**12:16**

**Good night! :)**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Thank you for reading!  
> And thank you to those of you who commented last chapter! I love seeing comments.  
> If you enjoyed this chapter please leave comments and/ or kudos! (This story is almost at 200 kudos! This is amazing!)  
> Constructive Criticism and suggestion are welcome.  
> I hope you all have a great day/night wherever you are! :)


	12. Viva La Revolution

Will was concerned when Nico had texted him at 11:00 Friday night saying he had had a panic attack. Their following conversation didn't do much to ease Will's nerves, but at least Nico went to sleep. Will had texted him afterwards and throughout the weekend, and Nico had seemed fine, but Will was still strangely nervous that something would happen. 

The feeling didn't go away on Monday morning while Will waited for Nico to show up for PE. He came in a minute before the bell rang and sat down next to Will with a huff. 

He was wearing his glasses today and his hair wasn't too messy. He didn't look really tired either. He looked like he usually did. 

Will  _ was _ worrying over nothing. 

  
  


Will realized why he should be worrying during Math. The teacher always wrote the date up on the board, and today’s date was November 12. 

Will glanced towards Nico. He looked fine. He was lazily writing down notes or twirling his pencil as he stared at the front. 

“You know what today's date is?” Will whispered. 

Nico turned towards him with furrowed eyebrows. “It's written on the board like it always is. November 12 today. You know the year, right?” A smile played on his lips. He look completely fine. Strange. 

Will faked a smile and nodded. “Umm...I forget the year. It's only November after all.” 

Nico slightly shook his head with a smile before turning back towards the teacher. 

  
  


Nico’s mood soured during Chemistry, but Will attributed that more to the teacher than the date. She was currently telling everyone how most of them did pretty badly on the test and a lot of them would be required to retake it. Will felt like she was one annoyance away from going back to her super mean self. Mean Dr. Fig was enough to get on Will's nerves. 

After twenty minutes, she finished her rant and began to hand the tests back. Will's got his back fairly soon. A big B+ was written on the top with red ink. A smile spread across Will's face. 

“I got a B+,” Will told Nico. 

Nico leaned closer and looked at his test. “You did. Congrats smarty pants.” 

“Says the human calculator,” Will teased remembering the time in Math when Will was distracted. 

“It was just an easy problem. I'm not a human calculator.” 

“Keep telling yourself that.” 

“I…”

Nico was interrupted by Dr. Fig throwing a test packet in front of him on the desk. She scowled at him before moving on to the next person. Nico looked down at his test. 

“What made her so angry?” He muttered. “I got a B.” 

Will shrugged. “She's an angry person.” 

Nico grabbed his test off the table and started flipping through the pages like he was looking for something. He stopped at one of the pages and scanned over it like he was reading. Will leaned towards him, but all he caught were some lines of red ink before Nico closed the packet and stuffed it into his backpack. 

That was strange. 

“What happened?” Will asked. 

Nico looked towards him. “Nothing. Why?” 

“What was wrong with the test?” 

“Nothing. I was just looking to see if one of the questions I was iffy about was right or wrong. It was wrong.” 

Will would have taken Nico's word for it if he hadn't seen the lines of ink. 

“It wasn't Dr. Fig writing you another mean message was it?” Will pushed. 

Nico froze for a second before shaking his head. “No…” 

“Nico.” 

Nico frowned. “Maybe it was. It's not important though. Don't worry.” 

Will sighed, but he decided to leave it. He didn't want to push Nico towards thinking about things he would rather not think about. Especially this week. 

“Don't hesitate to tell me of something is wrong, okay?” 

Nico quickly nodded his head and smiled. “I will.” 

  
  


The words that appeared on Will's arm that night didn't help to ease his worries.

_ “I'm trying not to think about it.” _

  
  


Nico looked fine the next day during Government class as well. He actually looked excited. 

“Hey Will!” He greeted. 

“Hey.” 

“So Hazel's birthday is Saturday. And I didn't give her a present last year because...you know.” He paused for a second and frowned before lighting up again and continuing. That wasn't good. “And I still have it. It was a brown horse plush. Hazel loves horses. We're taking her and her friends horseback riding for her birthday. And we got this horse cake. It'll be great. But I wanted to give her two presents this year since I kinda ruined her last birthday and didn't give her a present. Jason took me shopping yesterday, and I found this kit filled with all kinds of art supplies. She's been really into art recently, so I thought it was appropriate.” 

Will stared at Nico for a few seconds. Will was pretty sure that was the most Nico had ever said at school at once . And Will was sure that was the fastest he had ever heard him speak. Will didn't know if that was a good or bad thing. 

He decided that going along with it was the better option. 

“I’m sure she'll love both gifts. They are coming from her older brother who she loves very much.” 

Nico's smiled dialed down a bit and looked more calm. “She does love me doesn't she?” 

“Of course.”

The bell rang. Nico turned away from him and towards the board. Before the teacher started talking Will was able to catch what Nico whispered under his breath. 

“I love her too.” 

  
  


According to Will's soulmark and Nico, today was the day. November 14. 

“ _ It was only one sip.”  _

Will didn't want to think about it. 

Nico looked fine the entire day. Sherman challenged him to a race, and Nico won. They took a test in Algebra and Nico finished in forty minutes. And then they arrived in the hell which is Chemistry class. 

And Nico was still in his  denial ...good mood, so he decided to tell Dr. Fig that she had written something wrong on the board. 

“Umm...Dr. Fig?” Nico called. 

She turned around and faced him with a scowl. “Yes Nico?” 

“You wrote that six times six is thirty in the last step.” 

And that's when the demon inside of her finally broke free of its cage. 

“The suicidal slut knows Math. Mind boggling.” 

That was it. No sneers. No scowls. No huffs. Just one sentence before she turned back to the board and turned the 30 into a 36 and continued the problem. 

The entire class was frozen in place. This was the first time Dr. Fig had trash talked them in a month. They didn't know what to do. 

Will looked over at Nico. His arm was up and his head rested on his fist. With his other arm he was lightly tapping his pencil on the desk. His eyes looked glassy, but his face was morphed into an expression of boredom. 

“Nico?” Will asked softly. 

“I'm fine,” he replied harshly, and Will decided it was best to leave him alone. 

He was not, however, going to stand for this! She was supposed to have been fired after what happened with Mitch. 

“Hey Dr Fig!” He called harshly. The entire class turned to him. Some had looks of admiration while other looked scared. Nico looked like he wanted to punch him in the throat. 

“What Will?” She asked annoyed. 

And well, Will hadn't really thought about what he would say next. He was just really mad. 

“Why are you always so mean to your students?” He asked. 

And that caught her attention. She turned fully towards him and stared him straight in the eye. Will wasn't scared. He had done this before. 

“Focus on Chemistry Will,” she commanded. 

“You said you would answer all the questions we ask,” one student pitched in from the back. It sounded like Mitch. 

Dr. Fig sighed. “Chemistry questions.” 

Will smiled. “Really? Cause you answered that question about Dance majors real quick last week.” 

And Will then felt an exploding pain in his leg, and he was 100% sure that Nico had just kicked him. But he was on a roll. 

“Did I?” She asked innocently. 

At least half the class said some form of yes at her question. She widened her eyes shocked. Will stood up motivated by the support he was getting. 

“I think you just say these things because you're a mean person and don't want to admit it.” 

Another student at the front stood up. Ellis. He was a troublemaker. Will was never sure over whether he actually hated Cecil or they were friends. 

“Don't sugarcoat it!” He shouted. “She's a complete bitch, and I will not stand for it anymore!” He turned around to the rest of the class. “Who's with me?” 

Everyone except Nico stood up. He looked like he was about to panic. 

“Viva la Revolution!” Paolo yelled before throwing his chemistry notebook into the air. 

“Viva la Revolution!” The class repeated as twenty four notebooks flew up. Everyone grabbed their backpacks and made their way to the door. 

“Sit down!” Dr. Fig yelled, but it was no use. The Revolution had begun. 

Will turned towards Nico who was still sitting frozen in his seat. Will swung his backpack over his shoulder and held out his hand. 

“Let's get out of here,” he said. 

Nico stared at him for a few moments before shakily nodding and grabbing his backpack. He grabbed his chemistry notebook and stared at it. And before Will could process what was going on, it was suddenly across the room shot straight towards Dr. Fig. It hit her right in the face. Nico growled towards her. 

Will grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the class before he started ripping her apart with his bare hands. 

They caught up to the rest of the class and followed behind them. Will didn't know where they were going, but he honestly didn't care. He looked towards Nico. He didn't look panicked anymore. Now there was fire burning in his eyes, and he looked like he would hiss at anyone who tried to talk to him. 

They ended up in front of the office, and they all went inside. Ms. Lansing looked at them all confused. 

“What's going on here?” She asked. 

“Viva la Revolution!” Paolo shouted. 

“Viva la Revolution!” The rest of the class repeated. 

Ms. Lansing looked around to the entire room before turning towards the door that led to the principal. 

“I'll go get Ms. Lowen,” she decided. 

“Get the principal!” The class started chanting. 

Ms. Lansing raised her hands and walked to the door. She opened the door and stuck her head inside. 

“Umm...Ms. Lowen? You should come out and see this. It's important.” 

When Ms. Lowen finally left her office, the class quieted down. 

“How can I help all of you,” she asked. 

“No more Fig!” One student shouted. The rest of the class joined in on the chant. 

Ms. Lowen raised her hands to quiet them all down. 

“We are working on removing her. We just need to find a replacement. She should be gone by Winter Break.” 

Will felt like that was fair. They couldn't leave the entire class without a teacher for an entire month. 

The rest of the class, however, did not seem to like this. 

“I will not go back to that class!” Ellis shouted. “Either remove Fig or we're not going to class! No one she teaches is!” 

“No Fig or no Chem!” The class began to chant. 

Ms. Lowen backed away a step and panickingly looked over the crowd of students. She was stuck. 

“All of you go back to class or you're all getting detention!” She shouted. 

The class continued to chant louder. There was nothing Ms. Lowen could do. 

“I'll have her removed by the end of next week. That's the best I can do!” 

The class ceased their chants. They all looked towards each other and shrugged. The deal was complete. Ms. Lowen sighed in relief. 

“If we see her again after Thanksgiving,” Ellis shouted, “We will be back!” 

Ms. Lowen nodded. “You are all excused from the rest of the period, but please do not make too much noise. I will get you in detention for that.” 

The class nodded and they slowly started exiting the room. Will led Nico to the quiet corner by the C hallway stairs. 

“You doing alright?” Will asked. 

Nico nodded his head and smiled. “That was awesome!” 

Will laughed. “Yeah it was.” 

They had just revolted against their teacher. And it worked! This would be a story Will would be telling everyone he met. He would even write a college essay about it. 

“Thanks though,” Nico said more somberly. 

Will tilted his head in confusion. “What for?” 

“For standing up for me. Thanks. It meant a lot.” 

Will squeezed Nico's hand. He was surprised that Nico was still holding his. 

“It wasn't just me. The whole class stood up for you. Don't forget that.” 

A shy smile spread across his face, and Will wished he could take a picture of it. 

Nico took a step forward and rested his head on Will's shoulder. Will froze in shock.

“I'm so tired,” Nico complained. 

Will let out a sigh and relaxed. “Bad day?” 

Nico scoffed. “Bad week. It's...it's the 14th today and my brain...my brain is doing a good job at reminding me of that.” 

Will used his free hand to comb through Nico's hair. It seemed to have helped relax him last time. 

“I was getting worried because you  _ were _ acting normal,” Will told him. 

“Yeah,” Nico sighed. “I thought that if I just ignored it, I would be able to get passed it no problem. My nightmares had other ideas. Especially last night.” 

“You don't have to pretend that you're feeling okay when you're not. I want to be able to help when I can.” 

“I know. I just...it's Hazel's birthday, and I didn't want to ruin it with my depressing mood.” 

That made sense. He probably felt guilty for getting kidnapped the same week as her birthday and making her last birthday a time to panic and mourn instead of celebrate. He was getting her two gifts to make up for it after all. 

“I doubt Hazel would blame you for feeling emotions. She loves you,” Will reminded. 

“Yeah.”

The bell rang ruining their moment. Nico groaned at the noise. Will chuckled. 

“Want me to walk you to class. The art classrooms are pretty close to here.” 

Nico rubbed his eyes with his free hand as he pulled a step away. He nodded his hand and gripped onto Will's hand tighter. 

Will nodded and led him to the next hallway. 

“So it's Wednesday,” Will announced. 

“I know.” 

“Lou Ellen, Cecil, and I are going to the ice cream shop again this week. You want to come.” 

Nico looked like he was deep in thought. When they arrived in front of his classroom he let go to Will's hand. 

“I’m really tired today. Maybe next week.” 

Will nodded at his answer. “See you later than Nico.” 

“See you Will.” 

Will waved goodbye and made his way to French. Today was a very weird day. 

  
  


Will sat down with his watermelon ice cream across from Lou Ellen and Cecil. After Nico had let him taste it (he was not going to think about it and blush), he had decided to try new flavors. Watermelon was actually really good. 

“Tell me everything that happened!” Lou Ellen demanded. 

“About?” Will questioned. 

She rolled her eyes. “About the riot against Dr. Fig obviously. It was all over social media.” 

“Oh.” 

“It sounded pretty cool,” Cecil added between mouthfuls of his own ice cream. 

“Well,” Will started, “It started with her saying something mean about Nico.” 

That caught both of their attentions. Will relayed the whole story about what happened during his Chemistry class. Lou Ellen and Cecil sat with wide eyed looks of pure happiness entrapped by every word he said. 

“And then we left the office,” Will finished. 

“Wow,” Lou Ellen breathed as she leaned back in her chair. “That is something.” 

“Viva la Revolution!” Cecil yelled. 

All three of them laughed at the cheer while Drew looked over at them worriedly. 

“But really this started cause you stood up for Nico. That's cute,” Lou Ellen commented. 

Will shrugged and tried to hide the heat rising on his cheeks with his cup of ice cream. 

“But really,” Lou Ellen continued, “You two are cute. Have you touched his soulmark yet?” 

Will shook his head. 

“And don't rush him,” Cecil added. “And it might not seem like it to you sometimes since he won't let you touch his soulmark, but it's really clear to an outsider that he cares about you.” 

“Definitely,” Lou Ellen agreed. “You both look ready to beat someone up for the other person.” 

Will could feel his cheeks getting hotter, but a light airy feeling also filled his chest. Will liked to think that Nico cared about him, and it looked like Nico cared about him, but it was nice hearing it from someone else. 

Sometimes it was nice hearing a reminder. 

  
  


Will was snapped away from the show he was watching by hearing his phone vibrate on his desk. He set his laptop down on his bed and went to go pick it up. 

_ Nico _

Why was Nico calling him? He picked it up. “Hello,” he greeted. 

“Hey Will. Do you know how to break out of a horse home thing. What's it called? Scuderia. Umm...a barn? No that's different. Umm...a stable! Yeah. Do you know how to break out of a horse stable?” 

Will did not know how to respond to that. 

“Why...why do you need to break out of a horse stable?” 

“Because the worker dude locked me in. I tried calling both my dad and Jason and neither of them picked up, so I need help breaking free. Google it and see what comes up.”

And Will did just that cause you could find the weirdest things on the internet. 

“Is there something you can climb over?” He asked. 

“No. Walls from all side and a locked door.” 

“Could you ride one of the horses and then have them run towards the locked door and try to break the door?” 

“Umm...no. That would hurt the poor horse. Also, all of the horses hate me. I've been trying to ride one all day and they keep neighing in panic whenever I get near them.” 

That's when Will remembered why Nico was near horses. 

“How was Hazel's birthday?” 

“It was good. She got loved of presents and she loved them all. The cake was delicious, and one of the horses loved her. He followed her around the whole day. It was adorable.” 

Will smiled at that. He could hear the smile in Nico's voice, and he couldn't stop himself from doing the same. 

“Did today help you...recover from this week?” 

Nico hummed. “Yeah. It was tons of fun and I didn't even think about it. Today was a good day. A tiring day, but a good one. Seeing my dad get knocked over by a horse might even be funnier than the whole class shouting Viva la Revolution.” 

“I think that was one of my favorite moments ever.” 

“You think? I know.” 

They fell into silence. The only sound Will could hear from the other side was a few horses neighing from time to time. 

“Hey Will? Thank you,” Nico said gently. 

“You already thanked me for yelling at Dr. Fig.” 

“Not for that. Thank you for the whole last five weeks.” 

Had it really only been five weeks since Will had met him? It felt like way longer. It felt like Will had known him for years. 

Will looked down at his arm. 

_ “I wish to sleep!”  _

A smile spread across Will's face. 

“No problem Nico. I know you'll help me when I need it too.” 

“I will. I owe you a lot. And I care about you too. You're my friend and my soulmate.” 

Nico had just said that he thought of them as friends. Nico said it! He trusted him enough to call him a friend. This was amazing! 

“You're my friend and soulmate too. You don't owe me anything. We help each other when the other needs it because we care.” 

“Yeah… But still. Thanks a whole bunch Will.” 

“Like I said no prob…” A buzzing sound from Nico's side interrupted him. 

“Oh. Jason's calling. I'm saved! I'll talk to you later Will. Thanks for keeping me calm while I was trapped with evil horses. Bye!” 

Nico hung up before Will had a chance to say anything. 

Keep calm? Is that why Nico had really called? He was scared? 

Nico both trusted Will and he came to him for comfort? 

A huge smile spread across Will's face, and the airy feeling returned to his chest. Will set the phone down on his desk and walked back to his bed to continue his show. 

The smile on his face and the feeling in his chest persisted for the next three episodes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that chapter was interesting to write...but Dr. Fig is finally going to be fired
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!   
> If you did please comments and/or kudos! Thank you for all of you who left comments last chapter!   
> Thank you for reading!   
> I hope you all have a great day or night wherever you are!


	13. Torture Traps and Turkey

Will had learned a lot over the weekend. He learned that his mom should never try making lasagna again since this was the fourth time she had tried and failed. (This time by adding too much salt. Will could feel himself dying of salt poisoning as he ate it.) He had also learned that Nico had somewhat started to trust him. That was most definitely the best part of the weekend. 

But the absolute most shocking thing he learned was that Cecil liked photography. And he didn't only like photography, but he also entered competitions for it. It was shocking learning that his best friend had a hobby that he was so passionate about and Will didn't even know of. He knew that Cecil liked taking pictures, but he didn't know just how much he enjoyed it. 

He also didn't know just how good he was at it. Or he was according to the people in charge of the competition he won. Will trusted their judgement. That was their job after all. 

But the reward for getting first place was what led Will to where he was now. The first place prize was $1000 and five tickets to one of the listed amusement parks. Cecil, being Cecil, did not want to wait forever to use his reward, so he decided to invite them to the park for their next Wednesday hangout. It conveniently worked out since it was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving break. They were let out of school at noon, and Cecil's mom drove them all straight to the closest park. Will would definitely not go to one any further away. 

And this was great. It was all great. Will was happy that Cecil had won. He felt great that he would use his prize on them instead of just using it for himself. He was also really happy that he was with his friends. But there was still a problem. 

Will really hated roller coasters. He hated them before the accident, and he hated them even more now. He was going to have to spend his whole day sitting on a bench waiting for everyone else to get off the ride and tell him how great it was. 

He really hoped that there were places to charge his phone. 

  
  


They made it inside the amusement park around 12:50. Cecil and Lou Ellen looked excited as they glanced at all of the rides that they could see from the entrance. Nico looked more hesitantly at them like he was expecting them to attack. Will could understand the feeling. Or maybe Will was just projecting his own feelings onto him and Nico didn't look any different from usual.

Maybe he should have stayed home. Cecil would have understood why. 

But there was no backing out now. He was already here, and he didn't really have much of a way to get back. And it wouldn't be nice of him to waste one of Cecil's tickets. 

“Alright,” Cecil's mom started. “I'm going to go check some of these things out. You all have fun and make sure to keep your phones on you. And don't wander anywhere alone.”

“You're wandering off alone,” Cecil argued with a smile. 

“I'm actually not. Two of my friends are already here and I'm going to meet up with them.” She turned around and gave them a wave. “I'll see you all back here at 7:30.” 

“Yes Mom.” Cecil then turned towards them. “So where should we start?” 

“A map,” Lou Ellen responded walking past him. 

They followed behind her to a stand with piles of booklets on it. Lou Ellen grabbed two and shoved one at Will before opening one herself. Cecil moved over towards her to get a look. 

“There's so much. What's the best way to do all of it?” Cecil muttered. 

“I think that since this side has more rides we should start here and do all of the ones in out path. Then when we start getting tired they're more spread out, so we get a break.” 

Cecil nodded at Lou Ellen's reasoning. “Makes sense. Right we go then!” 

Cecil pointed in that direction and began marching. Lou Ellen quickly folded her map up and followed behind him. Nico groaned and fell in step next to him. 

“Something wrong?” Will asked. 

Nico glanced up before looking back towards Cecil and Lou Ellen. “I don't really like roller coasters. Like they don't scare me, but they aren't really fun. They make me feel weird.” 

Nico didn't like roller coasters either? 

“What?!” Lou Ellen shouted turning towards the two of them. “How can you not enjoy a roller coaster? They're super fast and twirly and you fall down and feel your hair blow back. They're great.” 

Will was starting to feel queasy just from her description. 

Nico shrugged. “I like fast rides. Like the ones that go super fast and there are some turns and medium drops. Those are great. But I don't like big drops. Why not just jump off a building?” Nico eyes widened and he quickly shook his head. “Wait no. That came out wrong. Do not jump off a building. Do not recommend.”

Lou Ellen stared at him in confusion for a few moments before sighing. “Guess it's just you and me Cecil.” 

“What about Will?” Nico asked pointing at him. 

“Yeah. No. They scare me. The car ride here was bad enough.” 

Nico's eyes widened in realization and Will could see pink faintly spread on his cheeks. “Oh.” 

“Guess we'll just break apart at the rides. You guys can wander around and do whatever while we ride everything,” Cecil suggested. 

“Makes sense,” Nico decided. 

Lou Ellen and Will nodded and they continued on their path to wherever Cecil was taking them. They ended up stopping in front of a giant blue and white coaster that made Will want to run away. Why did people torture themselves with these things? 

“Well, we'll get in line. See you guys later.” 

With that, Cecil ran off to stand in line. 

“Don't forget to eat lunch at some point!” Will called out. 

“Of course not,” Lou Ellen responded. “I'm here for the full experience, and that includes overpriced amusement park food.” 

Will opened his mouth to say something, but Lou Ellen leaned towards him and cupped her hands around his ear. 

“Have fun on your date,” she whispered. 

She quickly pulled away and sent him a smile before waving and running off to where Cecil was in line. 

Will could feel his face heat up, and he really hoped Nico didn't notice. Thankfully, when Will turned to him his eyes were locked on something in front of them instead. 

Will followed his gaze, and his eyes landed on a small stand with a giant pretzel logo on it. 

“Do you want a pretzel?” Will asked.

Nico slowly shifted his gaze over towards him and shook his head. “Not particularly. It’s just been a long times since I’ve had a soft pretzel. My middle school used to sell these huge soft pretzels every Friday, and I always used to get them. I just... remembered that.” 

“You want a pretzel,” Will decided. 

Nico hesitantly nodded with a small smile on his face. 

Will smiled and led him to the small pretzel stand. No one was there, so they walked up to the cashier who was leaning against the counter scrolling through something on his phone. It took a moment for him to notice them and put the phone down. 

“How can I help you two?” He asked clearly bored. Or maybe he was annoyed that someone actually came to buy something. 

“Two pretzels,” Will answered. 

He grabbed two napkins and reached into the case. He held out two pretzels in front of him. 

“Three dollars.” 

Will reached into his pocket to pull out some money, but Nico beat him and gave the man three dollars before taking both pretzels and thanking him. He held one up in front of Will, and he took it with a grumble. 

“I could have paid.” 

“Should have done it faster.” 

“Is it a race now?” 

Nico smiled but didn't respond instead opting to take a bite out of his pretzel. Will decided to take that as a yes. He sighed and bit into his own pretzel. It was still warm and soft and it had a good amount of salt sprinkled on it. It wasn't amazing, but Will enjoyed it. It was definitely better than his mom's salty lasagna. 

Will looked around the park as the two of them wandered around. They had seven hours to kill, and they couldn't possibly spend that only walking around the park. 

He soon spotted a few stands with those carnival type games. The ones that give you prizes if you win. That could kill some time. 

“Let's go try those,” Will suggested pointing towards the games. Nico looked towards them and nodded his head. 

“It's something to do.” He finished up his pretzel and rolled the napkin up into a ball. The two of them walked up to the closest game. 

The guy at the counter got excited that someone had approached. He must have gotten bored of standing there. He tipped the baseball cap on his head and immediately started talking. 

“Hello! I hope you're enjoying the park.” 

“I was dragged here because I don't know how to say no,” Nico responded. 

He was clearly not expecting that answer. His smile wavered for a few moments, but he saved himself and continued on like nothing happened. 

“Well, I hope you have fun with this game. You just have to take a dart,” he holds up one of the darts on the table, “and shoot it at the targets which are these birds.” He pointed behind him. There are five different birds. Each on is a different size, but they all have a circle drawn on them. 

“You start at the biggest bird and make your way down to the smallest. All you have to do is to get the dart to hit inside the circle of each bird. You get the prizes in front of each bird if you make it.” He turned back towards us. “First try is free. Who wants to go first?” 

Will thought that this game sounded easy enough. And the prizes at the top looked nice too. They were cute animal plushies that looked super soft. 

“I'll go first,” Will decided. 

Maybe if he won he could give Nico the prize. Nico had gotten him a teddy bear a month ago. It was time for him to pay him back. 

The guy in charge, who didn't have a name tag for some reason, gave Will a dart. Will took it from him and moved himself in front of the first target. It was a giant yellow bird with a circle a little bigger than the lid of a Pringle can. This wouldn't be too hard. 

Nico moved and stood a step away from him eyeing the target with a dubious expression. Did he not think Will was going to make it? 

Will took a deep breath and threw the dart. He wasn't the best when it came to aim, but he was confident that he got this dart in the target. He wasn't that bad after all. 

What he wasn't expecting was the dart to hit the target and then fall to the ground. 

“What?” Will shouted. 

Nico was now glaring at the yellow bird. Did Will miss something? 

“Oh sorry. Guess you didn't make it,” the guy said. 

“I did,” Will complained. “I hit the target and then the dart fell to the ground.” 

“I said you have to get the dart inside the circle. That means the dart has to stay stuck.” 

“You said that the dart has to hit the inside of the circle,” Nico argued. 

“No I didn't.” 

Nico opened his mouth but quickly closed it probably figuring out that there wasn't much of a point in arguing. It wasn't like they had any proof. 

“Let's just go. This guy and his game is a big cliche. Evil carnival game man,” Nico muttered. 

“Don't you want your free try?” The evil carnival game man asked holding out a dart. 

Nico glared at him, but he ended up snatching the dart out of the man's hand regardless. Will moved over to let Nico in front of the board. 

He was eyeing the board with a fierce glare, and he held the dart in a tight grip. Nico stared at the bird for a minute before stepping back and throwing the dart at full force. The dart quickly flee through the air and hit the board on the right side of the circle. The dart was shaking but it stayed stuck to the board. 

Nico smiled triumphantly and looked towards the man. “I won.” 

The guy stared at the dart on the yellow bird with a scowl. 

“Would you like to try the next one?” The man spat. 

Nico looked up at the plushies. “Nah. Can I have the horse.” 

Of course he'd pick the horse. Hazel loved horses. At this rate she was going to have horses everywhere in her room. 

The man unhooked the plush and handed Nico the light purple horse. He took it with a smile and waved the man goodbye. Will followed after him. 

“Hazel is going to love this. It's so soft. Feel it.” 

Nico held the horse up in front of him with an excited smile. Will pet the horse toy on the head and...wow. It was really soft. Super soft. 

Nico's eyes sparkled and he looked around. “Do you want to try another game? Hopefully this time it won't be run by some cartoon villain.” 

Will made it his goal to win Nico and himself another plush. Everyone in the world deserved to hold something as soft as that. 

  
  


It turned out that all of the stands did not have the same prizes and not all of the plushies were that soft. After spending two hours playing games, Nico and Will had spent a grand total of thirty dollars trying to win two soft plushies. They ended up winning them along with the other twenty five prizes they had won in the process. Will was happy that he was able to win half of those prizes. He was surprisingly good at the fish shooting game. 

Now they just needed to find someway to carry all of the prizes. Luckily, they found a small gift shop nearby and the cashier was nice enough to give them a few bags. They stuffed the prizes into the bags and split the bags between them. 

“Well, that was one way to kill a few hours,” Nico commented. 

Will hummed in agreement. “And now I'm hungry,” he added. “Let's find somewhere to eat.” 

“Don't you have a map?” 

Oh yeah. He did. Lou Ellen had shoved it into his arms when they first got there. Will set the bags of prizes down and pulled the map out of his pocket. He unfolded it and looked it over. Nico came and stood next to him. 

“The closest restaurant looks like that one,” Will said pointing as best as he could with both his hands holding the map open. Nico seemed to figure it out though since he nodded. 

“Let's hope for the best.”

  
  


And hoping did them good since the place they found was quite nice. It was a small cozy place with warm lights and a small stage where people went up to sing or tell jokes. Nico and him found a table near the back. 

Will opened the menu and to him it looked like the food her wasn't too bad either in terms of options. Will ended up ordering lasagna just so he could get the bad memory out of his head. Nico ordered a simple burger with fries. The waiter nodded and set down a small bowl of bread on the table before turning away. 

Will picked up one of the pieces and bit into it. It was soft and a mixture of both sweet and salty taste filled his mouth. 

“This is some good bread,” Will commented. 

Nico stared at the bread before picking up a piece himself and biting into it. His eyes sparkled and he nodded his head. 

Will was now viewing this place very highly. They could make amazing bread! They must make everything else great too, right? 

“Hey Will?” Nico called. 

Will turned his attention away from his third piece of bread. “Yeah?” 

Nico hesitated for a moment before asking, “What's on your arm?” 

The question confused Will. Why was Nico suddenly curious? But Will didn't really care either way, so he rolled up the sleeve of his jacket and showed Nico his arm. 

 

_ How did you accidentally buy molasses instead of chocolate sauce?  _

 

“I'd like to know the answer to that question myself,” Will added. 

Nico groaned. “My dad said that they look similar. I don't know how he missed the big letters on the bottle that said molasses. How did he get them confused?” 

Nico bit into another piece of bread with a pout, and Will let out a laugh. A laugh that immediately stopped when he realized that there was a bowl about to land on Nico's head. Will didn't have much time to warn him, so the bowl spilled the liquid, Will assumed soup, onto Nico before hitting his shoulder and landing on the floor saved from crashing because of the stuffed animals. 

Nico's eyes were wide, and he didn't move a muscle. His breathes starting picking up, and Will could tell that this wasn't good. 

“Nico?” Will called. 

Nothing. 

He repeated to call him until Nico finally looked his way. He blinked a few times before looking down at himself and quickly getting up. 

The waiter who was standing right next to them began to apologize. Nico looked towards them hastily before jumping over their bags and rushing to the bathroom. This wasn't good. 

“I'm so sorry,” the waiter apologized to him. 

Will got up and turned towards the bathroom. “It's umm...it's fine. He's not mad. Don't worry. It was mistake.” 

Will then rushed off towards the bathroom without waiting for a reply. Will didn't want to be rude, but calming Nico down from what looked like the start of a panic attack was much more important than the waiter. 

He rushed inside the bathroom and found Nico curled up in front of one of the sinks. He was breathing heavily, and Will could see tears pouring down his face. Will crouched down next to him. 

“Nico hey. You're safe. The waiter just dropped some soup on you. It was an accident. You're safe.” 

Will had absolutely no idea what had made Nico start to panic, but he still needed to try his best. He could assume that it was something from when he was kidnapped, so he hoped that telling him he was safe would help. 

“It's just me and you here. No one's going to hurt you. You're safe. Can you hear me Nico? It's me Will. Can you hear me?” 

Nico slightly nodded his head and Will sighed in relief. That was good. That was really good. At least he was still  _ here.  _

“That's great Nico. Focus on my voice okay? You're safe. No one's going to hurt you. There's nothing to worry about. Just focus on my voice.” 

Will wasn’t sure how long it took, but Nico eventually began to breathe normally and the tears had stopped running down his cheeks. 

They now sat silently on the bathroom floor. He assumed that Nico would appreciate it. He was really thankful that no one had to use the bathroom while they were there. 

Nico spoke a few minutes later. “Sorry.” His voice was quiet and raspy, and Will really didn’t like hearing it like this. 

“Sorry for what?” 

Will could guess what Nico was going to say at this point, but maybe it was best to let him say it.

“For freaking out. It was just soup some waiter had dropped, and I had to go have a panic attack and ruin your day.” 

“You didn't ruin anything. I had a lot of fun. I was actually expecting it to be a lot worse since I hate roller coasters so much.” 

Nico stayed silent, so Will turned to see if he could guess what he was thinking based on his expression. His knees were brought up to his chest, and his arms were wrapped around them like he was trying to wrap himself into a ball. His grip on his arms was tight and he was gnawing at his lip with a dull look in his eyes. 

Will assumed he hadn’t eased his worries at all. So what was he supposed to do now? Last time he had told him jokes, and it seemed to have calmed him down then. But would they work a second time? What else could he try? 

“When I was—ummm—kidnapped,” Nico started, and Will almost sighed in relief, “there was this one guy who came who... liked pouring hot water on me? I don’t know. He only came once. Yeah. I guess I just remembered that.” Nico loosed his grip on his arms and let out a sigh. 

“Bad week?” Will suggested. 

Will already knew that he was having a bad week...two weeks. But Nico looked like he was embarrassed that something like soup falling on him had made him panic. Maybe Will implying that it was’t just the soup but a culmination of things would help him. 

Nico scoffed. That wasn’t the reply he was expecting. 

“Bad week? At this point, I would say bad month. I hate November.” He paused. “But Hazel’s birthday is in November, so I guess there’s something good about it.” 

That. He could work with that. 

“There were other things that happened this month that were fun too.” 

“I...I guess.” Nico groaned. “I’m just so tired. I want a break. Just one week where I don’t have any nightmares or have a panic attack or have to run into people I don’t want to run into. Just...just one week.”

Will frowned. Why couldn't Nico just catch a break? After everything that he had already been through, he at least deserved to have a week where he could get a good night’s sleep. 

“I’m sorry.” What was Will supposed to respond to that? What could Will do about it? If he could, he would. 

“You didn’t do anything wrong Will. You’re trying at all, and that’s a lot more than I expected. Thank you.” 

And Will knew that was supposed to be a  compliment, and he knew he should have felt good because of it, but...instead he felt a pang in his chest. Nico shouldn’t feel thankful just because someone was treating him nicely. 

“Of course. You’re my friend and my soulmate.” 

Nico opened his mouth to say something, but instead a small smile spread across his face. 

“Yeah.” 

Will smiled back. He looked like he was feeling a little better. That was good. Will wasn’t completely terrible at this. 

“Maybe some food will ma…” Will gets interrupted by Nico’s head collapsing on his shoulder. 

“Tired. Sleep.” 

Heh? Will would have felt embarrassed, but at this point he was too hungry and tired himself. 

“Come on Neeks. You are not falling asleep on the floor of a public bathroom. And I’m hungry.” 

“Neeks?” 

Oh. Shoot. He wasn’t supposed to say that.

“I just...I heard Jason say it, and well, it was kinda cute? I won't say it again. I'm sorry!” 

Good job Will. You ruined it. You ruined the moment. 

“It's fine.” 

Wait nevermind. 

“You can call me that if you want. I don't mind.” 

Looks like Will didn't ruin it. That was good. That was really good. 

“Cool. Now let's go eat. Then we can find some bench, and you can sleep as long as you can.” 

  
  


**8:24**

**How did I get home?**

 

**8:28**

**You actually fell asleep when we found a bench and then you wouldn't wake up**

**So I piggybacked you to Cecil's car**

**And then to your room**

**And I now think you should eat more**

 

**8:30**

**Oh.**

**Sorry.**

**And I eat a perfectly normal amount**

**Usually**

 

**8:32**

**If you say so**

**Do you know how to get dried chocolate off of furniture?**

 

**8:33**

**…**

**No???**

**Why???**

 

**8:35**

**Andy's brother and sister and all their children are coming over tomorrow and my mom wants me to clean my room**

**And I found some (hopefully) dried up chocolate stuck to the mattress and it's not coming off**

**I blame cecil**

**There was a cover on the mattress**

**How?**

 

**8:39**

**Google says liquid dish soap**

**I don't question cecil**

 

**8:42**

**I will try my best**

 

**8:43**

**Good luck**

 

**8:59**

**It worked**

**Somewhat**

**Good enough for the devils tomorrow**

 

**9:17**

**I ate a bowl of this chicken and broccoli thing Seph made**

**You can't say I don't eat**

**And congrats**

**Do you not like your step? cousins?**

 

**9:19**

**I still think you should weigh more**

**Or maybe I'm just super strong**

**And no**

**I have three step cousins and I hate them**

**They came over last year for Christmas and ate all of my stashed up candy**

**If they were ten I would forgive them**

**But they're fifteen-twenty**

 

**9:23**

**Steal their random things when you go over**

**And they'll just think their stuff is missing but you'll know**

 

**9:25**

**I will do that**

**They're jerky idiots and they deserve it**

 

**9:24**

**Yeah**

**And spill food on them**

 

**9:25**

**I will enact my revenge**

**You got lucky**

**Jason and you get along well**

 

**9:27**

**I guess**

**His sister is okay too**

**Don't talk to her much**

**Percy is percy**

**And his little brother Tyson is adorable**

**And he just got a little sister**

**But our dad's all hate each other**

**They're brothers and the only reason they ever talk is because Auntie Hestia makes us get together for Thanksgiving**

**This year we're going to Jason's house**

 

**9:31**

**That could either be terrifying hilarious or extremely awkward**

 

**9:32**

**Depends on the year**

**Percy's mom and my uncle got divorced but Auntie Hestia still invites her over**

**And then when she got remarried to her soulmate she invited him over too**

**That was awkward**

**For him**

**He was not expecting the glares and Jason’s dad throwing cranberry sauce at my dad**

 

**9:34**

**Poor guy**

**He was expecting a happy family and he got stuck in the middle of a war**

 

**9:36**

**He's used to it now...I think**

 

**9:43**

**Lol**

**My mom apparently needs potatoes right now, so I'm going to go beg the neighbor for three potatoes**

**I'll talk to you tomorrow**

**Try to get some more sleep! :)**

 

**9:47**

**Okay**

**Good night!**

**I'll try**

  
  
  


**7:19**

**Nico help me**

**We just finished dinner**

**And now they're trying to have me join their cult**

 

**7:26**

**What?**

**Also I ate a lot of dinner today, so you can't complain that I don't eat enough**

 

**7:34**

**I'm sorry for mentioning your eating habits**

**I was just worried**

**I'm sorry**

**And the idiots are trying to convince me to go to my neighbor's house and prank them**

 

**7:37**

**I'm kidding**

**Thanks for worrying I guess**

**Sorry**

**And why do they want you to prank your neighbor?**

**The potato neighbor?**

 

**7:42**

**No worries**

**And of course I worry**

**That's the one**

**They want me to go to her house and convince them that I lost my pet snake and want to look in their lawn**

**Leave the old lady alone**

**Ms. Barnes did nothing wrong**

 

**7:53**

**Why do they want you to prank her???**

**What are they doing???**

**Here's a weapon**

**[Audio]**

**It's Percy singing**

 

**7:57**

**…**

**He cannot sing**

**At all**

**Oh my**

**I played it at full blast and they all ran out of my room**

**My mom will be mad but worth it**

**I'm free!!!**

 

**8:19**

**Percy's dad is drunk**

**And he's singing**

**This is hell**

**Thalia just walked out of the house**

**Hazel is curled up on my lap with one her horses like shes scared of everyone else**

**My dad and Jason's dad are throwing napkins at each other**

**I don't know where my aunts and Seph are**

**Maybe they left with Thalia**

**Idk**

 

**8:27**

**I am so sorry**

**Poor Hazel**

**She did nothing to deserve this**

 

**8:31**

**Thalia came back**

**Seph and the rest were with her**

**They bought me and Hazel lollipops**

**I'm going to eat the whole bag**

**Paul is just sitting on the couch scared**

**Percy's step dad is Paul…**

 

**8:34**

**Poor Paul**

**I'm still hiding**

**I heard someone call me but I don't want to leave the safety of my room**

**I'll go if they call again**

 

**8:38**

**Oh no**

**You're going to get busted**

**Hestia made my dad and Jason's dad sing a duet to stop fighting**

**It's hilarious**

**[Video]**

**Thalia excused herself to the bathroom when they started and she hasn't come back**

**She's hiding**

 

**8:56**

**Oh my God**

**Your dad is singing**

**What the heck?!?!!**

**They both look like they want to kill each other but they're singing Disney love songs**

**And I have been busted**

**I am now hiding behind the couch while the rest watch some movie**

**Something about aliens**

 

**9:03**

**He's a strange person**

**And they do want to kill each other**

**Now Jason and Percy are singing**

**I don't know what**

**Thalia came back**

**She started throwing pillows at them**

**They didn't back down**

**Paul looks like he's having more fun**

**I'm on my third lollipop**

**Do they not see you behind the couch???**

**Aliens are cool**

**I can't wait for them to take over**

 

**9:13**

**Throw more pillows!!!**

**Poor Paul should not have to be subjected to the torture**

**And theres only a small space behind the couch**

**I'm planning to get up and scream to scare everyone**

**And no alien takeover**

**I want nice aliens**

**I want to be friends with aliens**

**No mean aliens**

 

**9:23**

**Hazel told them to be quiet**

**She yelled at them and told them they sounded like fingernails on chalkboard**

**Everyone shut up after that**

**Now we're all sitting in silence**

**I'm very proud of her**

**Scare them! Scare them! Say you're an alien**

**Fine**

**But I still want aliens**

 

**9:37**

**I did it**

**It was at a part where everyone was already scared because of the movie**

**They all screamed**

**One of the jerks ran out of the house**

**My mom threw a fork at me**

**It was great**

**Hazel is an angel**

**She deserves all of the good things in life**

**A true hero**

**If I find an alien you'll be the first person I tell**

 

**10:03**

**Percy's dad dropped my cake**

**I spent time and effort on it and he dropped it**

**Splat**

**So I made Hazel get up and walked over to him and picked up what I could I threw it at his face**

**Then I walked back and sat down**

**Hazel curled back up on me and told me everything would be okay**

**What did I do to deserve her?**

**You should lock the door and not let anyone in**

**He can stay outside with the imaginary snake**

 

**10:08**

**I'm sorry about the cake :(**

**I'm sure it was great**

**And Hazel is the best**

**And you're an amazing person and deserve an amazing sister**

**They already came back in**

**But I think they're all scared of me now**

**So success**

**We're eating ice cream and watching Finding Nemo**

**I feel good**

 

**10:23**

**I'm never making cake for them again**

**And Percy tried to take my phone cause you actually made me blush you jerk**

**:)**

**Thank you though**

**Fear Will Solace the (fake) alien**

 

**10:27**

**Aww**

**I made you blush**

**I'll give you all the compliments!!!**

**Fear the fake alien**

**I'm out of ice cream**

 

**10:34**

**They're trying to make me sing**

**I don't know why**

**I just want to be left in peace**

**Hazel is defending me**

**She hitting everyone who comes close with her horse**

 

**10:39**

**Sing! Sing! Sing!**

**I'm sure you sound better than Percy at least**

**And then they'll leave you alone**

 

**11:02**

**I hate you**

**And Paul is no longer innocent**

**Hazel is the only person I care about now**

**And Valerie hasn't done anything wrong yet either**

**I care about (2) people**

 

**11:05**

**Did you sing?**

**And why yet?**

 

**11:08**

**Yeah I sang**

**It was terrible**

**Paul saw my phone and saw that you were telling me to sing and used it against me**

**Hazel gave me her horse and said that hugging it might help me feel better**

**And yes yet**

**I can no longer trust anyone after this**

**Only Hazel is on my side**

 

**11:13**

**Did someone take a video?**

**I want it**

**Paul is becoming one of you**

**He's being corrupted**

**Don't be so dramatic**

**I'm sure it wasn't that bad…**

 

**11:27**

**[Video]**

 

**11:34**

**That wasn't bad**

**That wasn't bad at all**

**I like your voice**

 

**11:37**

**I'm still mad and hugging Hazel's horse**

**She fell asleep**

**Truly blessed**

 

**11:41**

**The braces girl from Nemo is so weird**

**I like happy Nico**

**What do I do to get happy Nico back?**

 

**11:45**

**Am I ever really happy?**

 

**11:47**

**…**

**Nico no**

 

**11:49**

**Sorry**

 

**11:52**

**Happy thoughts**

**Happy thoughts**

**Like…**

**You won lots of prizes yesterday**

**And you got to sleep**

**And you got lollipops**

**And Hazel is a blessing**

**And your family loves you**

**And you have friends who care about you**

**And I care about you**

**And when you go back to school on Monday the evil Dr. Fig will be gone**

 

**12:03**

**:’)**

 

**12:05**

**Yay!**

**Happy face!**

 

**12:09**

**Yeah**

**Thanks**

**Sorry**

**I just started thinking about how I haven't seen everyone in one place since I got rescued**

**I missed Thanksgiving last year**

**We were supposed to host it**

**And then a bunch of things started happening at once**

**I think I got overwhelmed**

**I think everyone could tell so they tried to distract me by having me sing**

**Or something**

 

**12:13**

**You're back now and you're safe**

**And you're surrounded by people who care about you**

**And people who want to see you happy**

 

**12:17**

**Yeah**

**Thanks**

**A whole bunch**

**Lots of thanks**

**I'm now hiding in the bathroom trying not to cry so thanks**

**Not sarcastically**

**Happy tears**

 

**12:20**

**:)**

**Yay! Happy Nico!**

**Cry it all out**

**Happy Black Friday!**

 

**12:23**

**…**

**Happy consumerism day!**

**Can't wait to see all the videos of people fighting over TVs at Walmart**

 

**12:27**

**Today's true blessing**

 

**12:39**

**What does your arm say today?**

 

**12:43**

**Umm**

**“You promised me cookies Percy.”**

**???**

 

**12:47**

**His mom makes good cookies**

**And he said he would bring some**

**But the plane people (as expected) said no**

 

**12:49**

**Poor cookies**

 

**12:52**

**Indeed**

 

**12:56**

**My mom tried to bring cake on the plane for my grandma**

**She failed**

**They took it from her and threw it away**

**She was sad about it the whole flight**

**We bought her a cake from some grocery store on the way**

 

**1:00**

**Poor cake**

**All that hard work and Bam!**

**It's in the trash**

**Can relate**

 

**1:28**

**A moment of silence for all of the deserts that were never eaten**

**My mom made everyone go to bed**

**The jerks are sleeping on the living room floor**

**Freedom**

 

**1:33**

**Serves them right**

**Good night then!**

**Sleep tight!**

**Have great dreams!**

**And wake up refreshed!**

 

**1:36**

**:)**

**You too Neeks!**

**I hope tonight is a one without nightmares**

**And I hope the rest of your break goes great**

**And on Monday you won't have to deal with annoying teachers**

 

**1:39**

**Dork**

**Go to sleep**

**Night Will!**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went to my cousin's wedding, and they had four options for dinner.   
> I picked the lasagna. And it was extremely salty. I couldn't finish it.   
> I vented through Will and his Mom's cooking 
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed! Thank you for reading!  
> If you enjoyed please comment and/or kudos!  
> I love reading comments! Thank you for those of you who left comments last chapter!  
> I hope you all have a great day/night wherever you are! :)


	14. Don't Think About It

Will had to pull Nico into their Chemistry class. Nico really just wanted to run away. Sure, they were getting a new teacher who was hopefully better than their last one, but at least before he knew what to expect. Nico didn't like not knowing, but at the same time, he didn't want to know either. 

“Come on Neeks. New teacher. You need to be here for their first day,” Will pushed. 

“But what if they're worse? I've never had a good science teacher in my life.” 

The last two were worse than the others, but his point was still valid. He was cursed.

“You won't know until you see them,” Will argued pulling him into the room. He couldn't run away now, but he still put up a fight. 

Will just dragged him to his seat and made him sit down with a huff. He looked around the room trying to spot a new face, but every face in the classroom was familiar. Mitch was sitting in the back drawing in his notebook. Paolo was on his phone. Ellis was throwing balls of paper into the trash can. Nothing unusual. 

The bell rang, but there was still no teacher in the classroom. 

“Do you think anyone is coming?” one guy asked. 

“There should at least be a sub,” someone else replied. 

After seven minutes, Ms. Lansing walked into the room with an unfamiliar women following behind her. She looked to be in her 40s and her red hair was tied back. Golden rimmed glasses sat on her face, and she wore a light blue dress with red and purple flowers on it. 

“Hello!” Ms. Lansing greeted. “I hope you all enjoyed the break.” 

The two adults stopped at the front of the classroom with smiles on their faces. 

“Well,” Ms. Lansing continued motioning her hands to the unfamiliar adult, “this is Ms. Spangler. She'll be your new Chemistry teacher. So I'll let her introduce herself and get everything settled. If there are any problems, don't hesitate to ask. Have fun!” 

Nico shifted his eyes towards Ms. Spangler. She looked nice. She had a small smile on her face and her eyes weren't shooting laser beams at him. But she obviously couldn't be trusted yet. He would have to see how things go. Mr. Henryson seemed great in the beginning too, and that turned out...less than great.

And then there was something on his shoulder, and he flinched bumping into Will's shoulder. Will lightly patted his hand, and Nico turned towards what or who touched him. 

Ms. Lansing was standing looking a tiny bit awkward but trying to keep the smile on her face. He really needed to pay better attention to his surroundings. 

“Sorry,” Nico whispered. 

He could feel gazes directed towards him, but most of the class was looking forward and paying attention to Ms. Spangler...or at least he hoped they were. 

Ms. Lansing sent a comforting smile his way before her gaze becoming sharp and her lips pressing into a firm line. That was...new? Nico hadn't seen Ms. Lansing look this serious before. She hadn't even looked anywhere near this serious when they invaded the main office. 

“Come with me. And bring your stuff.” 

What? What did he do? He couldn't remember doing anything that would get him in trouble. Was he going to get expelled? 

“Your not in trouble,” she added apparently reading his mind. 

Nico glanced towards her before sighing in relief and grabbing his backpack. This would hopefully not be anything serious. He looked towards Will who gave him a comforting smile before following Ms. Lansing out the door. 

  
  


Nico was now sitting in front Ms. Lowen's office still not knowing why he was there. Ms. Lansing had told him to sit down and wait before walking into the room. That was twenty minutes ago. 

Nico sighed and looked at his phone. Will had sent him another few messages. 

 

**11:56**

**She’s from Michigan**

**11:59**

**She hates apricots**

**12:03**

**This is her first teaching job**

**She has a degree in chemical engineering**

**12:08**

**She found her soulmate**

**She showed us a picture**

**Her name's Maddy**

**12:13**

**She seems nice**

**Better than Dr. Fig so far**

 

Nico shut off his phone without answering. It was nice of Will to send him texts about what their new teacher was like. He could obviously see how worried he was. 

Nico let out a sigh and dropped his phone in his lap. This was boring. 

But, that was better than being worried and anxious. He wasn't feeling that for whatever reason, so that was great. 

After another seven minutes, Ms. Lansing walked out of the office and ushered him inside. Finally. 

She closed the door behind her, and Nico sat down and walked over to the seat in front of Ms. Lowen's desk. 

“Good morning...afternoon?” He greeted. How do you greet people at 12:00. Good noon? That sounded strange. 

“Hello,” she greeted back monotonically. 

“So what do you need from me?” 

It was lunch time now, and he was starting to get hungry. He wanted to finish this as fast as possible and go eat. 

“How was your day?” She asked. “Anything noteworthy happen?” 

Small talk?  _ Great.  _

“It was a normal day. Woke up. Ate breakfast. Came to school. Went to PE. We played basketball today. I am terrible at it. Sherman laughed. Will was great though. Then Math. Took notes. Learned about Probability. Then Chemistry. New teacher. Now I'm here.” 

Ms. Lowen looked his over with a calculating look before turning towards the computer sitting on the desk. 

“Nothing strange?”

Nico shook his head in response.  _ This _ was strange. Really strange. 

“Is something wrong Ms. Lowen?” 

And of course there was. She wouldn't have called him in just for small talk. Ms. Lansing wouldn't look at him like that if there wasn't anything wrong. Everything about this screamed that there was something wrong. 

He pressed his right thumb into the palm of his left hand. He needs to stay calm. He couldn't freak out before even figuring out what the problem was. 

Calm. Calm. Calm. 

“Nico? I need you to listen to me carefully. I don't know for sure what happening and in all honesty I was hoping to solve the problem without telling you, but Emely-- err--Ms. Lansing disagreed and convinced me otherwise.” 

Oh wonderful. Something  _ was _ wrong. Very wrong. Nico wanted to break a pencil. 

“Anyway,  _ this  _ was sent out an hour ago to what looks like every staff member in the school. I don't know who it was or how they got the image and I'm assuming you don't know either.” 

Image? Sent? Every staff member? What? 

What image? What was happening? 

“But I'm going to call a meeting and address it. And I'll tell your dad too. If you know now, I have to tell him too. We'll talk about it. It'll be fine. We'll figure it out.” 

And she was panicking. Her voice got a bit higher and she was talking faster. This was bad. Really bad. 

But Nico still had no idea what she was talking about. 

“Ms. Lowen? What image? Sent? What are you talking about?” 

And in all honesty, did Nico even want to know? Maybe Ms. Lowen was right and he would feel better not knowing. Ignorance is bliss afterall. 

If he doesn't know, he doesn't have to worry about it. He wouldn't know that anything was wrong. And if he doesn't know that anything is wrong then nothing is wrong. Why did Ms. Lansing have to ruin it? 

“Oh,” Ms. Lowen whispered. “I should probably show you it.” 

She looked back towards her computer. She typed on her keyboard and clicked something before turning back towards him. 

“It...it could be worse. It could have been much worse. And we'll handle it. I promise. You'll be fine. Don't panic.” 

And Nico was now panicking. No one said don't panic unless there was something to panic about. 

He curled his hands over each other and thumb into his palm. He needed to stay calm. Stay calm. Calm. He couldn't freak out in the principal office. He just needed to stay calm. 

“Umm…” Ms. Lowen muttered something Nico couldn't understand to herself before turning the computer screen towards him. 

Nico believed that his reaction was entirely justified considering what he was met with on the screen. 

Panic. 

“How...how did...what?” 

How in the world did anyone get a picture of him from that stupid stupid hell. There was a small relief from the image being one where he was wearing clothes, but the rope around his hands and the bruises on his arms and face did not make it possible for people to assume much else than what it was. 

And everyone had that image now. Every single adult in this building had this image. Every single one of them knew. Every single one them had a picture of his looking like  _ this _ !

“Nico?” Ms. Lowen called gently. 

Nico looked up towards her, and he bet that he did not look like he wasn't panicking. 

“You're going to be fine. It could be worse.” 

_ It could be worse.  _

“Yeah,” he hissed. “It could be much worse. But that doesn't mean this isn't bad! Every single damned staff member in this building has that picture! And if this picture was sent out, that means that there's someone out there who has these pictures and knows where I go to school! How if this not bad?!” 

Calm. Calm. Calm. 

He needed to calm down. Nothing would happen from him panicking. He needed to calm down. 

“I know. I know this is bad. But we'll figure it out. I told Ms. Lansing to call your dad. He's probably on his way here already. We'll figure this out.” 

Dad was coming? He couldn't have his dad see him panic. He was supposed to be past this. He was supposed to be fine now. He couldn't let his dad know that he wasn't fine at all. He couldn't worry him more than he already was. 

“Nico?” 

He looked up towards her. The computer monitor was now back to facing towards her, and her eyes were widened in panic. 

“I'm fine,” Nico rasped out. 

“Do you want to go somewhere else? Or talk to someone? Your counselor is in his office. You could talk to him if you want.” 

Nico didn't want to talk to anyone. He just wanted to pretend none of this ever happened and forget about it. But that wasn't an option was it?

“I'm fine.” 

Ms. Lowen gave him a disbelieving look, but she didn't argue. Instead, she started scrolling through her computer silently. He appreciated the silence. 

  
  


His dad came into the principal office with a huff ten minutes later. By then, Nico could breathe easier and his nails weren't being dug into his skin. 

“What is going on?” His dad asked with a scowl. 

He probably didn't appreciate being called into Nico's school while he was at work. 

“Well, this morning...ummm…” Her eyes drifted from his dad to him and she paused. “Nico do you want to step out? If you don't want to hear about it again.” 

Did Nico want out? Yes. 

“I'll wait in the office,” he whispered before getting up. 

“You sure you don't want to talk to your counselor? Or maybe go to his office just so you have the option.” 

“I'm fine.” 

He didn't want to take to anyone. He just wanted to be left alone and not deal with anything. 

“Maybe you should go talk to him,” his dad suggested. 

Betrayal. 

“I'm fine,” he repeated. 

His dad nodded. “Yes but, I don't know what happened, but it wouldn't hurt. Please.” 

He didn't want to argue about this. He wanted Ms. Lowen and his dad to finish talking as soon as possible and then go home. 

“Fine,” he agreed. 

Ms. Lowen smiled and gave him directions to get to the counselor offices and told him which room his counselor would be in. She then told him that she would send him a message, so he wouldn't have to explain anything. 

He sighed and made his way to the hallway and soon ended up in front of the student services section of the school. He stared at the door for a few seconds before turning away and sitting down on the floor in front of it. 

No one would know if he actually went in. He could just wait here until his dad was done talking to Ms. Lowen. Then he could go home and eat blueberry pancakes. 

Or at least that was the plan until the bell rang and Nico remember that they were in lunch block and people had to go through the hallways to get to where they needed to go. Ugh. Maybe he could hide in the bathroom. 

“Nico? Why are you sitting on the floor?” 

Of course someone would stop him before he could. 

Nico turned towards the voice. And it was a teacher who he had never seen before. Why did she know his name? The email? 

_ Great. _

“I...I was with Ms. Lowen and she told me to go see my counselor.” 

Her green eyes lighted up confused and she turned towards the door. Her curly brown hair was tied back, and she pushed it over her shoulder before turning back towards him with a frown. 

“Then why didn't you go in?” 

He couldn't tell her he wanted to be alone and chickened out. 

“I don't know who my counselor is…” 

Because he doesn't read a single sheet of paper that the school sends him. Nope. 

But the excuse seemed to convince her, so whatever. A smile spread on her face and she nodded. 

“Oh. Well, I can help you figure it out. I think the section that they cover is written on their doors, so it shouldn't be too hard to find. 

Oh no. 

“Does it? I guess I can figure it out myself then. Thanks for the help.” 

Please go away. Please leave and let him hide in the bathroom. He didn't want this. 

“It's fine. I don't have a class right now. I don't mind.” 

Oh come on! 

“Thank you then.” He forced a smile on his face even though internally he was loudly groaning. 

She smiled back clearly  _ not  _ being able to read his mind and lead him inside the student service center. She waved at the lady sitting at the desk and lead him to the back where there were doors lined up throughout the hallway. Each door had a sign on it with a name and the counselor's alphabet distribution just like she said. 

“Di Angelo, correct?” She asked. 

Nico wanted to run away and just walk home. 

“Yes.” 

“So then the second door near the end.” 

“Okay. Thank you.” 

“No problem. Take care of yourself.” 

And now Nico just needed to slowly walk to the door and run out as soon as she was gone. No worries. No worries. No worries. 

Why wasn't she leaving?! 

He was now standing in front of his counselor's door and the teacher was still standing there watching him with a smile on her face. This was just creepy at this point. 

He let out a sigh. He wasn't getting out of this now. He knocked on the door. A male voice acknowledged him, and he slowly opened the door. The teacher gave him a thumbs up before turning around and leaving. 

Could he run now? 

“Do you want a donut?” The voice inside asked. 

Donut? 

His dad wouldn't take too long, right? 

He slowly entered inside and his eyes landed on an opened box of donuts. It looked like half of them were eaten. 

He closed the door lightly behind him and took a seat in the available chair which just happened to be next to the box. The counselor's desk sat next to it, so Nico would be facing him. The place was covered in a few posters and plants were scattered around the room like Persephone's garden room at home. On the name plaque sitting on the desk it said Mr. D. 

He looked to be in his forties and he had long light brown hair that was tied back. He was wearing a Hawaiian shirt with pineapples on it even though it was almost December and he had a weird gleam in his eyes that made Nico think that he didn't want to be here either. 

Mr. D pushed the box of donuts towards him before slouching back in his chair and messing with his phone. 

“If you want to talk about something, than talk. If not, I don't care. Don't break anything.” 

Nico liked this guy. He gave him free food and didn't make him talk! 

Nico reached into the box and pulled out a blueberry glazed donut. Hooray! This was even better than a blueberry pancake. 

He munched on the donut while observing Mr. D. He was scrolling through his phone with an intense look of concentration. After a few minutes, he groaned and threw his phone into one of the drawers in his desk and shutting it loudly. 

His eyes landed on him and Nico looked down in his lap while forcing himself to look like he was only paying attention to his donut. 

“Do you want to play Pinochle?” Mr. D asked. 

Pinochle? 

“I don't know what that is?” 

Mr. D scoffed and pulled out a deck of cards from another drawer. 

“How do you not know what it is? It's only the best card game in history. What did you do with your free time when you were a kid? Color?” 

“I used to play Mythomagic.” 

Mr. D smiles and began shuffling the cards. “Oh. My son loved that game. I played with him sometimes. My favorite cared was Dionysus.” 

A small smile spread on his face. He could talk about this. That was easy. Emotions on the other hand? Ugh.

“That's weird. Most people hate that card. They go as far as saying he's the most useless because his stats are terrible. I thought he was pretty sweet though. He had a good defense bonus.” 

“Useless? They just don't understand how to use it.” 

Nico shrugged. Mr. D finished shuffling the cards and began distributing them. 

“Well, Pinochle is hard to teach, so how about we play Rummy?” 

Oh yes. That game that Nico also didn't know how to play. 

“I don't know how to play that either,” he admitted. 

Mr. D raised an eyebrow. 

“Durak?” 

Nico shook his head. 

“How about Go Fish? Everyone can play Go Fish!” He raised an eyebrow. “Don't tell me you can't play Go Fish.” 

“I know how to play Go Fish.” 

Mr. D sighed in relief. “I got worried there.” 

He distributed the cards and set the rest in the middle. Nico picked his cards up and looked through them. 

“You have an 5s?” Mr. D asked. 

Nico shook his head. “Go Fish.” 

Mr. D drew a card. Nico looked through his cards. He had two 7s. 

“Do you have any 7s?” 

“Go Fish.” 

Nico drew a card. A nine diamond. 

“Do you have any tens?” 

“Go fish.” 

Mr. D threw his cards onto the table. “I forgot how much I hate this game.” 

Nico set his cards back in the pile. “I don't like it much either. Doesn't take much skill.” 

“Exactly. It's stupid.” 

“My cousin Percy likes it.” 

“Well, I don't like him.” 

A small laugh bubbled out of Nico's mouth before he stopped himself. 

“Oh look. You laughed. I did my job. Now no one can complain.” 

“I don't think anyone would either way.” 

He shrugged. “Take another donut.” 

Nico hesitated before taking another one. He was having donuts for lunch today. The healthiest of eating habits. 

“How long do you think your dad will take?” 

“I don't know. If we're lucky he'll get angry and leave in a few minutes. If he gets worried, we might be here all day.” 

“Oh no.” 

Nico bit into his donut. He really hoped his dad wouldn't take forever. He wanted a nap...if he could get a nap. 

Nico slowly ate his donut while Mr. D pulled his phone out of his drawer and began scrolling through it again. After fifteen minutes, Nico decided that Mr. D really wasn't going to make him talk about anything. That was strange. 

“You aren't going to ask anything?” 

Mr. D glanced up from his phone for a second before turning back towards it. “I asked you multiple things.” 

“Not that. About me. Or what happened. Or how I feel. Or something.” 

Mr. D put his phone down and stared him straight in the eye. “Is there something you want me to ask?” 

Of course there wasn't. Nico should be happy that Mr. D was leaving him alone. He shouldn't be questioning him. What if he actually started to try and make him talk?

“No. I was just confused.” 

“Confused that I wasn't making you talk?” 

Nico nodded his head. “Yeah. My therapist used to keep asking me things and kept pushing me. And sometimes she said some profound things, but she was mainly annoying.” 

“Used to?” 

“Yeah.” 

“As in, you don't have a therapist anymore?” 

“Yeah?” 

Nico really should have just accepted the donut and kept his mouth shut. Why was his dad taking so long? 

“And you don't have one because she got annoying?” 

Nico sighed. “Partially. And I'm better. I don't need one.” 

Or read: he probably needed one, but he needed to convince everyone that he didn't, so they wouldn't worry. He was so far mildly successful. 

“You're better? That's why you had a panic attack and were sent to my office after seeing that picture. But I guess that is  _ better  _ than you probably were say five months ago.” 

Nico grabbed another donut to busy himself. He couldn't answer him with his mouth full. 

Mr. D watched his actions for a while before talking again. “I would suggest trying a new therapist. Talking things out with someone you barely care about helps sometimes. It might work this time around.” 

Nico  _ was _ getting better. He didn't need another therapist. Sure, he wasn't perfectly fine yet, but he was better. He didn't need someone else listening to everything wrong with him. And he most definitely didn't need everyone worrying about him. He worried them enough already. 

“I'll think about it,” Nico lied. 

Mr. D hummed in acknowledgment before turning back to his phone. “Do you have any other questions?” 

“I don't think so.” 

And that was that. Mr. D stayed glued to his phone, and Nico decided to use the soft chair to take a short nap. It was probably not one of his better ideas since he woke up panicked and covered in sweat two hours later. He took deep breathes like he always did after a nightmare and paced around the office until he felt  _ better.  _ That's when he noticed that the office was empty. Mr. D probably went home. Maybe he should go back to Ms. Lowen's office and convince his dad to leave. 

He wanted to see Hazel. She always made him feel better. 

He grabbed his backpack and left the office closing the lights behind him. He exited the student service area and made his way towards the office. On the way he pulled out his phone. 

 

**8 unread messages**

 

He unlocked his phone to check who they were from. Maybe his dad was looking for him. He opened the text message app, and they were not from his dad. They were all  from Will. 

 

**12:37**

**You haven't responded**

**It's lunch time**

**I hope you eat something**

**1:29**

**And class is over**

**Are you still with Ms. Lansing???**

**1:47**

**I shall assume that the answer is yes**

**Is everything okay???**

**Are you okay??????**

 

Nico decided that it would probably be best to reply to him before he began to think the worst...or maybe that was just him. 

 

**2:26**

**I live**

**Something happened and then I fell asleep**

 

That was probably enough. He could reply to questions later when he was more in the mood. He pocketed his phone before continuing his way to the office. 

“Hey! Why are you wandering around in the halls?” 

Hallway patrols? Seriously? 

He turned around towards the voice and  Ms. Roberts came marching towards him with a scowl. 

Everyone hated her. She always stood right in the middle of the cafeteria doors to make sure no one left. Complex plans had to be designed in order for them to escape before the bell rang. 

“I'm going to the office,” he explained. 

She narrowed her eyes. “Where’s your pass?” 

What would happen if Nico just made a run for it? The principal would excuse him.

“I don't have a pass. Ms. Lansing brought me to the office and then I went to my counselor's office and now I'm going back.” 

She narrowed her eyes, and Nico figured that this was hopeless. 

“Really?” She asked skeptically. “Well, I guess we can ask her then.” 

That...that was actually great. Nico would get to where he needed to go, and he would get to see Ms. Roberts make a fool out of herself. 

“Sure.” 

She huffed and led him towards the office. Ms. Lansing wasn't sitting at the front desk, so Ms. Roberts led him straight to the back where the principal's office was. 

He looked through the small window in the door and clearly saw his dad sitting in one of the chairs with a scowl. What could they even be talking about at this point? There's no way they had more to discuss after two hours. 

Ms. Roberts knocked on the door before immediately opening it. Ms. Lowen and his dad both looked towards them.  

“Nico? Something wrong?” His dad asked. 

Nico opened his mouth to reply, but Ms. Roberts beat him to it. 

“He was wandering the halls without a pass. He said he was heading here. Is it true?” 

“Yes it's true,” his dad snapped. 

Ms. Roberts flinched at his tone before glaring at him. “Alright. I'll leave then.” She turned around and walked out of the office. 

Nico was disappointed. He was hoping for that to be more entertaining like the time his art teacher had yelled at her for yelling at the student who volunteered to hang some artworks up in the halls. She liked hallway passes a bit too much. 

“Are you done yet?” Nico asked. 

His dad relaxed his features before frowning. He opened his mouth to say something, but Ms. Lowen beat him to it. “Mr. D came in saying there was something he needed to talk to us about, so no. There are still some things left to discuss.” 

Nico frowned. What were they even talking about anymore? Ms. Lowen explained everything she needed to explain to him in fifteen minutes. Why was it taking his dad almost two hours? And what did Mr. D want? Where even was he? 

Nico turned towards the clock hanging in front of Ms. Lowen's desk. 2:43. 

“I'll just wait for Jason to take me home. No one told him not to come yet. He should be here in fifteenish minutes.” 

His dad nodded. “Yes. You should go home and relax.” 

“But before then, Nico, sit down. I want to ask you somethings.” 

That was usually not good. 

Nico hesitantly made his way over to the seat next to his dad and sat down. The clock was behind him now, so he pulled his phone out and set it in his lap. 

“What do you need to ask?” 

Ms. Lowen typed a few things on her computer before turning back towards him. 

“Do you have any idea on who could have sent these?” 

Nico thought it over but no one immediately came to mind, so he pushed the thoughts back and shook his head. 

“There's no one specific. It could be anyone who...who you know.” Ms. Lowen gave him a worried look which translated into her saying yes. “And then they also found out what school I go to.” 

And Nico did not want to deal with that can of worms, so he pushed everything back. He pressed the power button on his phone and it lighted with the time. 2:46. Jason just got out of school a minute ago. He still needed to drive here. 

“And that's an extremely worrying thought,” his dad added. 

A worrying thought he was not going to think about. 

“Yes,” Ms. Lowen agreed. She turned towards him with a sharp gleam in her eyes. “While you were with Mr. D, I explained to your father what happened and what we’re planning to do. I'm planning to have a meeting with the staff to explain to them the situation tomorrow so it doesn't start a riot. I can't deal with two in one month.” She smiled at him, and Nico forced a smile back. He didn't want her to feel bad about her not being able to lighten the mood. 

“After the meeting, I was planning to see what happens next since as of now, there isn't anything we can do. The email came this morning, and someone was assigned to track it, but there's no name attached to the account, and it was accessed and created in the public library. Tracking a person down like this would need a full investigation. We'd have to call the police.” 

Not again. Not again. Not again. 

“And I don't want to do that unless this escalates. As of now, it's not hurting you directly. And with more evidence it would also be easier to find out who it was.” Ms. Lowen sighed. “Your father, however, wishes to call the police immediately and deal with the issue.” 

“Of course I do,” his dad interrupted. “There's someone out there who's hurt my son and is trying to continue to hurt him! I'm not just going to sit back and let them continue this just because you don't want to get involved!” 

Ms. Lowen scowled. “We've already had this argument Mr. Di Angelo. I am  _ not  _ trying to hide what happened. I just don't want to have this whole thing explode in out faces.” 

“We just need to get footage of who was using the computers at that library at the time the email was sent. It's not even a long investigation!” 

“But it's unnecessary right now. You're emotional. Think about this with a cool head. You're a lawyer. Just having the video evidence won't solve anything. There were probably at least four people on the computers at the time. If something else happens, then we'll have more evidence.” 

“We can get enough evidence now! Why should we wait to capture the one who did this!” 

This was too much! Why were they so loud? 

“Shut up!” She shouted. 

His dad and Ms. Lowen immediately closed their mouths and turned towards him. He took a deep breath and checked the time. 2:50. 

“I don't want to get the police involved,” he continued quieter. 

“But Nico,” his dad started, but he interrupted him. 

“I don't want to be surrounded by police officers and be stuck in a courtroom again.” 

The police officers who asked way too many questions when all he wanted was some quiet and a nap. The courthouse with it's too bright lights and so many people just staring at him waiting to see what he does. 

“This isn't that big of a deal yet. It's just a picture. When it becomes a problem, then we can get the police involved.” 

2:52. 

“Are you sure about this Nico?” His dad asked. 

Nico nodded his head. “Non di nuovo.” 

His dad frowned and patted his shoulder with nod. “We'll wait then.” 

Ms. Lowen sighed in relief. “I'll send the email out for the meeting tomorrow in a few minutes. I will tell you how it goes. If anything else gets sent or happens, I'll immediately tell you.” 

2:54. 

“Mr. D should be back soon.” She started typing on her computer with an intense expression. Probably writing that email. 

2:55. The bell rang. Nico got up out of his seat. 

“I'll wait for Jason outside. I want some fresh air.” 

Nico immediately ran out of the room without waiting for either of them to reply. Ms. Lansing was back at the front, so he waved towards her before leaving the office and heading to the front doors. Other students were now filling the hallways and a steady stream of people were leaving the building. Nico followed behind them and walked away from the group and closer to the parking lots. He could just sit in the grass and wait for Jason to show up. 

“Nico!” A voice called out behind him. A very familiar voice. 

Nico turned around and spotted Will running towards him. Nico waited for him to catch up. Will stopped in front of him and gave him a worried glance. 

“You okay? What did Ms. Lansing want? You said something happened, but what's something?” 

“It's not important.” 

And it really wasn't. They didn't need to call the police, and Nico didn't need to go around telling everyone he knew. Especially Will. The two of them were getting closer, and Nico didn't want to ruin it over something stupid like this. 

_ Compared to how you'll inevitably ruin it later on.  _

“If Ms. Lansing called you out for that long it's probably important,” Will argued. 

“It's really not.” 

Will groaned. “Not telling me anything isn't going to make me worry less.” 

“It's nothing to worry about.” 

“Sure.” 

That was bad. They weren't supposed to fighting about this. 

“I...not now Will. Maybe later.” 

Maybe never. 

Will sighed but nodded his head. “Yeah. Alright.” He paused and gave Nico a once over. “You feeling alright? That's more important.” 

“I'm fine. Don't worry.” 

A small smile spread across Will's face but Nico could tell it was forced. There was a hint of sadness in his eyes. “I'm going to worry when you give me a look like that.” His smile falls. “You're eyes are dull and you look all tense.” 

Was he being that obvious?

“I'm fine.” 

Because repeating it might not convince Will, but maybe he'll drop it and stop worrying in five minutes. 

“Nico.” 

Nico looked away from Will and spotted Jason's car entering the parking lot. Perfect timing. 

“Jason's here. I shouldn't keep him waiting. I'll see you later.” 

Nico didn't wait to hear what Will was going to say. He didn't want to know. 

He rushed to Jason's car and took a seat at the front. Jason looked at him a bit startled before smiling. 

“You usually take a bit longer to get here.” 

Nico shrugged. “I walked fast today.” 

Jason hummed and pulled out of the parking spot. 

“Anything interesting happen today?” 

Nico remained silent. He didn't particularly want to tell Jason what happened, but he couldn't lie either. Jason could always tell when he did.

“Well,” Jason started,“today I had a substitute teacher who accidentally kicked the wall to make some point and ended up breaking it. He then proceeded to move the cabinet in front of it and had us swear to not tell the staff.” 

“How do you accidentally kick a wall so hard it breaks?” 

“He underestimated his strength.” 

“Apparently,” Nico replied with a laugh. 

Jason smiled and turned towards him as they waited for the light to turn green. 

“Anyone at your school kick any walls?” 

“Not that I know of.” 

“Maybe he'll come to your school next. The wall destroyer. He'll be infamous. Every student will hope that he'll be their substitute. Every faculty member will worry. But he'll never be caught.” 

“His swears are absolute. No one even thinks about breaking them.” 

“And he's never caught on camera.” 

Laughs spilled from Nico's mouth until he couldn't breathe. He wasn't entirely sure what he found so funny about a wall kicking substitute teacher, but it seemed to do the trick and cheered him up. At least a bit. 

After Nico's laughter subsided the car was silent with only the wind rushing by and the cars making sound. It stayed like that for a few minutes before Jason broke the silence between them. 

“So you want to tell me what happened today or would you rather not?” 

“What happened?” 

“Uncle Hayden texted me right before you came in the car. Said that something happened.” 

Of course he did. His dad worried about him way too much. 

“It's not important.” 

Jason raised an eyebrow and gave him a disbelieving look before looking back forwards and turning right. “Yeah. He specifically told me because he just felt like it.” 

“Yeah?” 

Jason sighed. He clearly didn't buy it, but who would? His dad wouldn't go out of his way to text Jason to keep an eye on him for no reason. He didn't hate Jason as much as Percy, but he didn't care much about him either. He wouldn't text him for fun, but he also trusted Jason enough that he didn't think that he would do anything to hurt Nico either. If he texted Jason, he wanted him to keep an extra eye on Nico because something big did happen. Or at least his dad thought it was big. 

“He's making a bigger deal out of it than it is,” Nico added. 

“How so?” 

“He wants to get the police involved even though it's not that big of a problem. I think I talked him out of it.” 

“Police?” Jason asked panicked, quickly turning towards him and then back to the road. 

There wasn't really much way to avoid an explanation without ignoring him now. 

“Someone sent a picture of me from...umm... _ there _ ...uhh...to every staff member at the school. It was kinda bad, the picture I mean , I looked all ruffled up and beaten, but I...uhh...I was wearing clothes so...umm…uhh.” He trailed off and closed his mouth. 

“Someone has a picture of you and sent it to every teacher at your school?” Jason asked in confirmation. 

“Yeah.”

“So they know where you go to school?” 

“I guess.” 

“Nico, that is a big deal!” 

Wait no. Jason was supposed to be the calm and collected one. 

“It's just a picture to the teachers. They haven't done anything else.” 

“But what if they do. They might not have yet, but what if that's what they do next. They send the picture to make you panic, and then one day you're gone again!” 

Oh. That's why his dad was worried and panicked. That's why Jason is panicking. 

“I...I doubt that would happen.” 

He really hoped it wouldn't happen. 

“But what if it does,” Jason argues parking the car in front of his house. “What if that's exactly what happens next, and this time we don't get you back?!”

Nico wasn't going to think about it. Nope.

Jason took a deep breath before resting his forehead on the steering wheel. “Sorry.” 

“No. It's fine. Sorry.” 

Did it make Nico a bad person if he forgot that other people were worried about him when he was...gone? He remembered at a basic level but sometimes it just slipped his mind until someone said it. 

Jason took a few more deep breaths before sitting up. “So if the police isn't getting involved what's happening?” 

“The principal is having a meeting with the staff and she'll tell us if anything else happens.” 

“So nothing pretty much. No clues on who it could be.” 

“The email didn't have a name attached to it and it was traced back to a public library.” 

Jason sighed. “So nothing?” He bit his lip anxiously, and Nico played around with his hands. He didn't know if he was supposed to leave the car and go home or of he was supposed to stay and wait for Jason to say something. 

“Wait,” Jason whispered. Nico turned towards him and Jason's eyes were opened wide and his mouth was slightly parted. “What if...what if it's Mr. Henryson? He knows you're here.” 

Mr. Henryson? Why didn't Nico think of that? 

“It...it could be. But why? I don't understand why he would send a picture to the adults at my school.” 

Nico didn't really understand why anyone would send a picture. If they wanted to scare him or take him or blackmail him they wouldn't do it like this. The way Ms. Lowen said it, Nico wouldn't even know about the email unless Ms. Lansing went against Ms. Lowen's plan. 

“I don't know,” Jason answered. “But there's probably some reason. No one would take such a risky move for the hell of it.” 

But what would that reason be? 

Jason patted him on the shoulder. “Let's not worry about that now. Just...try to relax and maybe things will work themselves out.” 

“I doubt it. But worrying won't do anything.”

“Exactly! But uhh...don't wander anywhere alone. And stay in public places. And keep your eyes out for anything suspicious. And always have your phone charged. And always have it on your person when you go out. And if you see Mr. Henryson you immediately run. And…” 

“Yes Jason,” Nico interrupted. “I'll try to keep myself safe. But you don't worry too much either.” 

Jason laughed nervously. “Right.” Nico unbuckled his seat belt and opened the door to the car. 

“Umm...do you want me to stay for a bit?” Jason asked. 

Nico shook his head. “It's fine. It's a Monday. Seph’s home. And Dad and Hazel should be back soon too.” 

Or at least that should be the case. Seph's car was here. And Hazel usually got home by 4:00. And how much longer could his dad possibly speak to Ms. Lowen? 

“Alright,” Jason agreed. “Go watch TV or take a nap or something. Text or call me if you need anything.” 

“Yeah. See you.” 

  
  


Nico spent the afternoon mindlessly watching TV until Hazel asked him to go on a board game spree with her. They played twelve different games before dinner. They stopped keeping track of who won after the fifth game. 

After dinner, Seph convinced him to help her with the indoor garden she set up in the house, and she told him stories to keep his mind from wandering. Then she led him back to the living room and turned on a movie. Hazel and his dad joined them when they were half way through Kung Fu Panda. 

But then it was midnight and his dad had to go to work the next day and Hazel had school, so they went upstairs to sleep. Seph stayed with him a while longer, but soon she was yawning and she was forcing her eyes to stay open, and Nico decided that she needed to go to bed. So he told her he was going to sleep and went upstairs with her soon following behind him. 

And then he was alone. But he couldn't sleep, so he took his phone and mindlessly used it until his eyes closed and he dozed off. 

He didn't know how long he slept, but he woke up with a jolt which was better than a lot of things, so he was grateful. He was still tired, so he looked over at the clock, but the numbers were all blurry and he was pulled back to sleep. After that he was in and out. Tired and dozed off but not asleep enough to dream. Just strange pictures floating through his mind that didn't make any sense. 

At some point he finally forced himself to get up and went to take a shower to wake himself up. He still felt tired afterwards, but it wasn't so bad that he felt like he was going to fall asleep standing up. He looked towards the clock in his room, and...11:37?! 

Why didn't anyone wake him up? He already missed half of the school day! 

He ran down the steps and found Seph sitting at the kitchen table with a notebook. Why was she home? Didn't she go work at her flower shop all day on Tuesdays? 

“Umm…” he started. What was he supposed to say? 

Seph looked up from her notebook and smiled. “Good morning!” 

“Why didn't anyone wake me up?” 

“You were tossing and turning and mumbling in your sleep. Thought it was better to let you get as much rest as possible. It's just one day.” 

Just one day. 

“Do you want me to make you something for breakfast?” 

“It's fine. I'll eat cereal.” 

  
  


After breakfast, Nico went back to his room. He decided to spend his day off doing homework. He grabbed his things from his backpack and his phone and set them all of his desk. He sat down and plugged his phone in making it light up and show that he had new messages. 

He unlocked his phone. They were from Will. 

 

**8:15**

**You're late**

**Or just not coming**

**8:57**

**I will assume that you're not coming**

**Mr. Gills is showing us some movie that I do not know that name of**

**It's about some guy in congress who got accused of being a Soviet spy and is now being interrogated by some other guys in congress**

**It's kinda interesting**

**9:40**

**Are you sick? Or is this because of what happened yesterday?**

**I hope you're okay**

**11:30**

**And now it's lunch and you're not here**

**Or at least I don't think you are**

**I don't see you**

 

**12:14**

**I was asleep**

**Bad night**

 

**12:16**

**:(**

**I hope you're okay**

 

**12:18**

**Yeah**

 

**12:20**

**You don't have to tell what happened if you don't want to**

**I would like to know since I'm worried but you matter more than the problem**

**So if you need anything don't hesitate to ask**

**I'll ditch English class and find a bus to take me to your house and give you a hug if you want one**

 

**12:27**

**Really?**

**I mean...I don't need anything**

**But thanks for the offer**

 

**12:30**

**I'm ditching English and coming to your house to give you a hug**

 

**12:32**

**Wait no!**

**Don't ditch English**

**That's important**

**And I...I kinda want to be alone right now**

**Maybe you can give me that hug tomorrow?**

 

**12:35**

**Fine**

**Are you coming to school tomorrow?**

 

**12:37**

**We'll see**

 

**12:40**

**Well, if you don't I'm skipping French tomorrow and coming to give you a hug**

 

**12:44**

**Thanks**

 

**12:46**

**:P**

**Take care of yourself**

**I now have an anatomy quiz I must take so I must sadly go**

 

**12:49**

**K**

**Good luck!**

  
  
  


At 2AM Nico woke up with a muffled scream and tears in his eyes and vomit building up in his throat. He ran on shaky legs to the bathroom and made it just in time. He dispelled his dinner into the toilet bowl and dry heaved until he caught his breath. No one came to help him, so he assumed they were still asleep. At least he hoped they were. He didn't want to wake them up. 

He could barely even remember what happened in his nightmare. He usually didn't. He could just remember the emotions and phantom pains. 

He wipes the tears from his eyes and slowly stood up. He flushed the toilet, washed his hands, and brushed his teeth before making his way back to his bed. His tired body collapsed on it, but his mind was running a marathon. When the clock struck 3, he gave up on going back to sleep and started pacing around his room. 

That didn't help at all. Now his body was aching and his mind kept running. Faster. Faster. Faster. 

He didn't even know what he was thinking. The thoughts were flying past and all he could feel were emotions, and he didn't want to think about them. Anger. Fear. Worry. Hopelessness. 

And pain. Why did his whole body ache? Why was everything hurting? He wasn't hurt. His legs should be fine. Why did they hurt? 

And now he was crying. Why was he such a mess? 

He sat down on the floor and covered his mouth to muffle his sobs. He didn't need to wake anyone up for this. It was just a nightmare. He had them a lot. Usually he panicked but once he calmed himself down he would either go back to sleep or stay up and do something else. 

Why were his emotions running wild and why did everything hurt and he was so tired and it all just sucked. And he couldn't even remember what the dream was, so why was he reacting so badly to it. He hadn't reacted to a nightmare like this in two months. Why was it happening again? 

Because of the picture? That wasn't that bad. It was just a picture. Everything would be fine. And if anything got worse they would get caught. No worries. Hakuna Matata and all that. 

_ But they could catch you again like Jason said. And maybe this timeyou never come back.  _

Which wouldn't happen. It's just a picture. They wouldn't send the picture if they wanted to catch him. They would just do it.

He needed to calm down. Deep breathes. Deep breathes. He would be fine. Perfectly fine. 

Fine. 

Fine. 

Fine. 

This wasn't working. 

He reached over and grabbed his phone. He shakily unlocked it and dialed Valerie's number. She would be awake at midnight, right?

She picked up on the third ring. 

“Nico? Hey.” 

“Hi,” he breathed out as normally as he could. 

“I was about to go to sleep. Isn't it 3:00 there? Why are you awake?” 

“Umm…” 

He didn't think this through. Why did he even call? To ground himself by hearing someone else's voice? He should have just played some music. Idiot. 

“Nightmare?” Valerie guessed. 

“Yeah. Woke up a bit panicked. I thought

...sorry. Good night.” 

“Wait no. Nico? Are you okay?” 

“Yeah. I'm fine. Fine.” His sentence ended with a sob escaping his throat, so his words were probably not very convincing. 

“You don't sound fine. Are you crying? What happened? How bad was it?” 

Now she’s worried too. Why did Nico call her? Stupid impulse. 

“I...I don't remember what happened. I just feel really terrible. Everything hurts, and I feel anxious and sad and angry, and I don't know.” 

Valerie stayed silent for a bit, and Nico was about to hang up thinking that she gave up when she spoke again. 

“Did...did something happen to trigger it. Anything you can think of?” 

“Maybe.” 

“What? What happened?” 

Nico was tired. So tired. If Val could help him then he would take it. He didn't care anymore. He just wanted to calm down and stop hurting. 

So he told her. Told her everything that happened from seeing Mr. Henryson at the bookstore to finding out about the email. 

And...it felt nice. Nico didn't talk to Valerie as much as he used to since he moved. They had their weekly movie nights and they texted each other when anything interesting happened, but that was still different from seeing her and talking to her everyday. Different from being right next to her and stealing her fries while she tried to take them back or running fingers through each others hair to calm the other down after a bad day. But talking to her now was still easy. He missed having someone who he could tell everything to. 

“Nico you aren't overreacting. You're scared, and you're allowed to be. Hell, I'm scared right now. Don't beat yourself up for it. But you also shouldn't pretend you're okay. Keeping all your emotions in isn't a good thing. A lot of people care about you. Okay?” 

Nico sniffed and wiped his eyes. His tears had stopped flowing down his face, and he didn't hurt as much. He felt better. 

“Yeah. Sorry. I don't know what happened.” 

“And that's fine. You don't have to understand why you're feeling something. Just don't pretend that you're not feeling it.” 

“Yeah. Yeah. I'll talk to someone.” 

“You better.”

Nico yawned and Val laughed on the other end. 

“Looks like you're sleepy now. Get some more sleep, Neeks. I'll talk to you tomorrow...today after the sun comes up.” 

“Okay. I miss you.” 

There was a beat of silence before she responded. “I miss you too. A lot. Whenever I see you again I'm going to give you the tightest hug ever and not let go for at least five minutes.” 

Nico laughed quietly. He couldn't wake everyone else up. “Can't wait.” 

“Be ready for it! Good night.” 

“G’night Val.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Non di nuovo=not again (or at least I think it does...) 
> 
> This chapter ended up long. Almost 9,000 words. Oops.   
> We go to Will next chapter starting when he gets home after that chat with Nico over text. 
> 
> Also, school started last week on Monday. I'm a college student now. Yay? So far this semester doesn't look like too much work (looks much more calm than senior year of high school), so I should have time to write, but we'll see as the semester continues. So if I go a month without updating...sorry. I'll try my best though!   
> FYI:Comments motivate me to write. Or message me on my tumblr (skyla-schultz) I'm open to talk/message, so don't hesitate! (and it doesn't have to be just about the fic!) 
> 
> Thank you all for reading! I'm so happy that people are enjoying this fic and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as well!   
> Please leave comments and/ or kudos if you did! :)   
> I love reading comments so a million thank yous to those of you who left comments last chapter!!!  
> I hope you all have a great day/night wherever you are!


	15. Tired

Will got home from school tired and with a cut across his hand. The cut wasn't deep and it had stopped bleeding as soon as he washed it, but that didn't mean that it didn't hurt like a thousand small knives were slashing him. (Not that he  knew what that felt like.)

His hand was now a testament to why people should not swing scissors around other people. He spent half of English class cleaning his hand listening to the other guy apologize. At least he was excused from doing the work.

And then school was tiring and worrying about things...people was tiring, so he was tired. But he still had math homework to do for tomorrow, so he needed to finish that before he could just sit around and do nothing or maybe take a nap.

He dropped his backpack on the ground of his room and collapsed in the chair in front of his desk. He grabbed his math folder from the desk and pulled out the worksheet they needed to do. Only twenty questions. That wasn't bad. 

He changed his mind once he got to the tenth question. Why did each question have five different parts? This wasn't twenty questions; this was 120 questions.

But that was his own fault. He shouldn't have expected only twenty question from Mr. Anderson. There were always parts. Will was going to die. He was only half way through and it took him an hour and a half. He shouldn't have left it all for today.

Maybe Nico did it, and he can just off copy his.

Will was interrupted from his moping with the sound of the front door opening. His mom must be home. He should go say hi and get something to eat. He needed a break.

He got up from his seat and walked downstairs. His mom was in the kitchen drinking a glass of water.

“Hey,” he greeted.

She finished her glass and set it on the table. “Will! Hi. I have something for you. I picked it up on the way from school.”

Why was she going to school? Or was she at his school.

No. Her school. Not his school. She was a music teacher. Will needed a nap. A week long nap. A coma.

“What do you have for me?”

His mom smiled and reached into her work bag. She pulled out a booklet with about thirty pages making it up. She handed it to him, and Will took it.

Official DMV Drivers Handbook

That woke him up.

“Umm...I…”

Why? Why in the world would she go out of her way to pick this up?

“You have to learn eventually, so I thought that it would be best to get you one.”

“I can't.”

Will could barely ride in a car. Did she really expect him to learn how to drive one?

“I know,” his mom started. “But I thought maybe you wouldn't be so scared of cars if you knew all the safety rules. Maybe.”

That was a stretch.

“That won't help.”

“You won't know until you try. We need to do something. You're sixteen. If you can't handle being in a car for long how are you going to go to college. Or do anything? You're fine now, but what about later?”

Will was too tired for this. Why did she have to go and bring this up now? He knew he had a problem. It didn't mean he knew how to fix it.

“I know that. But I don't know how to fix it?”

“You're barely trying. You're just avoiding the problem. You need to do something. I thought maybe learning to drive would help. Or maybe we could ask a therapist. Maybe that would help.”

Will squeezed the papers of the handbook. “I don't know.”

“Exactly. So we need to figure it out. And then you won't be as scared of cars in say two years.”

“Maybe.”

His mom gave him a sad smile and ruffled his hair a bit. “Just try going through it. Please.”

Will didn't want to go through the handbook, but his mom did have a point. He couldn't just avoid the problem and expect everything to be okay. He'd been avoiding the problem for five years already, and it didn't help him at all.

“I'll try.”

His mom smiled. “Thank you. We'll figure this out. I just...you cant live like this forever Will. The world is pretty reliant on wheeled transportation."

“Yeah. I have homework I need to finish. I'll look through the handbook later.”

His mom gave a big smile. “Okay. I'm going to make something with fish today. I found this recipe online and it looked delicious.”

This would either turn out great or the kitchen would explode.

“Good luck.”

Will glanced down at the handbook in his hands and then made his way back to his room.

 

  
He ended up finishing his math homework right before dinner. His already injured hand hurt so much.

His mom actually succeeded making whatever she was trying to make. Or at least he thought she did. He wasn't sure what he was eating, but it tasted good and he didn't die, so it met every regulation on his chart.

And then he immediately buried himself under his blankets and went to sleep for a good eight hours. Which meant he woke up at 4AM. Way too early, but he felt too awake. He started with using his phone, but it got boring after thirty minutes, so he began looking around his room for something to do. His eyes landed on the driver's manual on his desk.

Will stared at it for a few minutes before sighing and grabbing it. He sat down at his desk and opened the manual in front of him. His mom couldn't complain if he actually read through it.  
He opened the manual to the first section. Signs and Signals.

It started with the street lights. Red meant stop. Yellow meant yield. Green meant go. Blah. Blah. Blah.

How was this supposed to help him? Reading through a bunch of rules wasn't going to help him get better. Will wanted to get better. Of course he did. Things would be so much easier if he could just ride in a car for more than half an hour without feeling panicked.

But what was he supposed to do. He couldn't just get over it. He barely even knew what was scaring him at this point. It wasn't that he didn't trust the driver to drive safely. And it wasn't like he didn't know that there were rules in place and most people followed most of them.

He knew that. He knew all of that. He knew he didn't have anything to be this scared of. There wasn't a very high chance of him being in another accident that would send him to the hospital. Right?

He groaned and closed the handbook. This was all stupid.

  


When Will arrived back from the locker rooms changed into his PE clothes, and Nico still wasn't there, he figured that he wasn't coming. Or he was just really late.

When PE ended and Will left the locker rooms changed back into his normal clothes, he kept the same belief.

When Math and Lunch and Chemistry went by, Will decided that Nico hadn't just slept in, and he really wasn't going to show up. So before going to French class Will pulled out his phone and sent Nico a text.

 

**1:22**

**Nico!!!!**

**?????????????**

 

He figured that was enough to get his message across. He was making his way through the English Hall when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out immediately...and then someone ran into him from the back and he dropped his phone to the ground.

He yelped as it crashed onto the ground and lightly bounced before settling on the hallway floor. He quickly reached down and picked it up. He turned it on and it all looked perfectly fine. There wasn't even a crack. He sighed in relief before turning around towards the person who ran into him.

A blonde haired, pale guy was standing behind him with a look of surprise.

“Sorry,” he apologized.

“It's fine. Didn't break.”

The guy sighed in relief. “I would be surprised if it did. It's just the school tiles.”

Will shrugged. “Still scared me.”

The warning bell rang and Will immediately stood up. “I'm going to be late.”

“Oh yeah. That's bad.”

Will ignored him and started speed walking to his class. He could do this. He could make it. Hopefully there was a substitute. The one day he doesn't want to be there and the teacher is actually there. His luck wasn't that bad, was it?

Will made it to his class a second before the bell rang. Success!

He made his way over to his seat and sat down. Jack looked at him with a teasing smile. “Late.”

“I was not late. I got here right before the bell rang. Not late.” Will looked around the room. “Not that it matters. The teacher isn't here.”

“Is she ever?”

“On the rare occasion she decides to actually come to her job. I’m surprised she hasn’t been fired yet.”

And then lo and behold their teacher, or at least Will thinks it's their teacher, he hasn't really seen her much, walked into the classroom. But she didn't walk to the front of the class. Instead, she just stood at the door and clapped her hands.

"Hey everyone," she greeted. "So I'm moving to Morocco! Woohoo."

She quit? Wow.

"So there will be a new teacher coming in soon. I'm not sure when. But my last day will be next Friday."

This whole school was a mess. First Dr. Fig got replaced and now his absent French teacher was going to Morocco for whatever reason. Hopefully everything was okay with her. Hopefully the new French teacher was sane and actually taught them. Both of those things. Not just one and definitely not none of them. He didn’t want another Dr. Fig.

"Why are you leaving?" One student asked. 

"My kid. Personal reasons."

"What are we doing today?"

"We can watch a movie. A French movie."  


 

  
That movie ended up being about some old man who collected butterflies and some little girl who went with him. The moving pictures told him that much at least. He didn't understand much else considering that he barely knew any French. They were half an hour into the movie when Will's phone buzzed, and he remembered that Nico probably replied and he didn't check.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket, and unlocked it before checking his messages. The one in the hallway was from Nico, but the one that just came in was from Cecil.

  
**2:03** ****  
**What if we went to eat pizza today?**

 

Pizza? Oh yeah. It was Wednesday. Will forgot. It didn't feel like a Wednesday.

Will left the message on read and went to check what Nico had said.

  
**1:25** ****  
**I’m at home** ****  
**Didn't sleep much last night** ****  
**I'm better now**

  
Oh. He was supposed to go see him if he didn't come today. Well, it looked like he was going to ditch class. First time for everything. And everyone else did it. It probably wasn’t that hard.

The teacher was gone again, so he just got up and grabbed his backpack. Jack watched him confused as he made his way to the door and walked out of the classroom. He probably wasn't expecting that.

Will hummed in pride and made his way to the stairs. He slowly made his way down and ended up in front of the back door. He looked around the halls and there was no adult in sight. He gave one last glance before calmly opening the door and walking out of the building.

He kept walking and soon found himself on the street running next to his school. That was way too easy, but Will felt pride. He ditched a class. Sure, it wasn't the whole class and it was one of his most useless classes and his teacher wasn't there and there was like an hour left in the school day, but he ditched.

No one could say that he always blindly followed the rules now!

He made his way to the bus stop and sat down. He still had absolutely no idea how to get to Nico's house.

 

  
  
The bus route was pretty straight forward, and Will got out of the bus thirty minutes later in front of a grocery store about half a mile away from Nico's house. And well, Will had money, and he wanted Nico be to happy, right?

So he bought all the junk food that was on sale and made his way to Nico's house. Half way there, he started thinking that maybe this wasn't a good idea. Maybe he should have gone home and dropped his backpack off first and then made his way here. Why the hell did his backpack have to be so heavy? Wasn't everything becoming digital now?

Once Nico's house was in sight, Will let out a sigh of relief. He was almost there. He could almost let go of all this weight.

He rang the doorbell and half slouched against the wall.

Wait. Did he ever respond to Nico? Or Cecil?

The door opened, and Will stood up straight. Nico was standing on the other side with ruffled hair and the clothes he probably slept in.

"Will?" Nico asked tilting his head.

"I bring gifts!" Will announced before adding, "And they're super heavy, so please let me in."

Nico stared at the bags he was holding suspiciously, but he soon smiled and let him in. Will stormed to the kitchen and dropped the groceries on the kitchen table before letting his backpack fall to the floor.

"School isn't over yet," Nico said taking a seat on one of the stools.

"I said I would ditch if you didn't show up," Will reminded. "You should have expected it."

Nico shrugged. "It sounded more like a joke. Will Solace ditching class. What has society come to?"

"My French teacher actually quit today. Why stay?"

Will took a seat on the stool next to Nico and pulled out a box of sugar cookies from one of the bags.

"She quit?" Nico asked amused.

Will ripped off the sticker from the box and popped it open. "Yeah. She's going to Morocco or something."

Nico breathed out a laugh before digging through the other bags sitting on the table. "Maybe you'll get someone competent now."

"That's the hope."

Nico pulled a bag of goldfish from the bag and opened it up. "Did you only buy junk food." 

"Junk food is great!"

"I'm not complaining."

Will hummed and took another cookie from the box. The two of them sat in silence other than their chewing. It was strange. It wasn't like Nico had a loud house or anything, but there was always someone else there.

"Where's everyone else?" He asked.

"Dad's at work. Hazel's at school. Seph needed to check something at her flower shop."

They left him alone?

"Persephone has a flower shop?"

Nico nodded. "It's not big, but she really likes flowers. She usually goes in all day on Wednesdays, but she stayed home today. And then one of the guys who works there ended up breaking something, and she had to go in."

Oh. She left him by himself because of an emergency. She must have felt that Nico was doing better, and he would be fine.

"You feeling better?" Will asked softly.

Nico stuffed a bunch of goldfish in his mouth and nodded his head. He quickly swallowed them up. "That's what I said in my text. I'm feeling better."

"But what's better?"

Better was subjective. If someone is happy then feeling better would be if you're even more happy. Same with being sad. If you're sad, being even a little less sad would be better, but you would still be sad. And there's also the question of how much better.

"Don't feel as bad as last night." Nico explained as he picked up one of the sugar cookies from the container.

"And how did you feel last night?"

Nico shrugged. "Bad. Really bad. But I don't feel as bad now. Not good necessarily but not bad either. Something in between."

"Better?"

"Better."

"Do you still want that hug?"

Nico shrugged and grabbed another cookie. "Weren't kidding about that either?"

"I never joke about hugs. I'll give you as many hugs as you want."

Nico slowly bit on his cookie and stared down at his lap. They sat in silence. Will looked out the window as a group of birds flew around Nico's backyard.

"I want one," Nico whispered.

Will looked back towards him. He was glaring at his cookie, but there was deep blush spreading across his face. Cute.

Will got up from his stool and stood in front of Nico before lightly wrapping his arms around him. Nico stiffened before letting out a sigh and relaxing. He buried his head in Will's chest and strongly gripped his shoulders. Will tightened his hold with his left arm and used his right hand to slowly brush through Nico's hair...really tangled hair. He needed a hairbrush.

They stayed like that, and a small spread across Will's face. This was nice. It felt like everything slowed down. There wasn't anything to worry about now.

He didn't ditch class and he wasn't afraid of cars and his mom didn't tell him to study for the permit test and Nico wasn't skipping school because something obviously bad had happened and Nico wasn’t crying.

The last one wasn't supposed to be there.

Will looked down at Nico. His grip on Will's shoulders got tighter, and he could hear quiet sobs spill from Nico's mouth.

"Nico?" He whispered.

"Sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry for."

Nico didn't respond. Will pulled him in closer and began to humm some gentle tune his mom used to sing for him when he was upset. Will wasn't sure how long it was before Nico's sobs turned into the occasional sniffle, but he didn't mind.

They were now silently munching on the rest of the sugar cookies. Nico opened his mouth a few times like he wanted to say something, but he always quickly shut it before he said anything. Will decided to wait and let him get the first word.

"They're done," Nico observed staring at the box of sugar cookies.

Will turned towards the box. "We ate twelve sugar cookies in one sitting."

"We're really healthy people."

"I've broken the rules!" Will shouted dramatically. "Now, I can never be a doctor."

"Don't worry. I won't tell," Nico answered smiling.

"But I'll know. I'll have the guilt gnawing away at me until the end of time."

"Accept it and move on. People change."

That sounded a bit more personal. Nico was now staring at his hands in his lap while biting his lip. Will reached into the bag and pulled out a box of donuts holes.

"Well, I guess I just have to live up to it and be as unhealthy as possible now," Will commented changing the subject--or not changing the subject. Changing the mood?

Nico didn't do anything but look up at what he was holding and give him a disappointed look. He snatched the box from his hands and slid it to the other end of the kitchen counter.

"No!" Will shouted.

“Enough sugar for you."

Was Nico right? Yes. Did Will really care right now? Maybe a bit. Was Will going to listen to the part of himself that told him that eating more sugar was a bad idea? Well, he wasn't going to until Nico glares at him when he reached over the counter of grab the box.

He laughed nervously and put the box back in the bag. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to eat those. They were addicting. Will would say he was only going to eat one, but then boom, they're all gone but one.

Will sat back in his seat and looked towards Nico who was staring in his direction. Nico immediately looked back down at his lap and threaded his fingers together.

They sat like that in silence for a few minutes before Nico opened his mouth.

"Umm...I want to tell you what happened."

He did? Huh. Maybe it was better to wait for someone to tell you something instead asking them again and again. Nico had told him a lot without too much prompting from him.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Will answered.

He didn't want Nico to tell him unless he actually wanted to tell him. He wanted Nico to trust him and tell him what happened because he knew Will cared. He didn't want to know if Nico was only telling him because he was scared Will would hate him if he didn't.

"No. I want to tell you."

"Okay. I'll listen."

"Well, umm..." Nico paused. Will assumed he was collecting his thoughts. Will patiently waited for him to start.

"Well," Nico started, "Ms. Lansing took me to see Ms. Lowen because something happened. So I went to talk to her and she started rambling about how I shouldn't panic and things would be okay, and that's never a good sign."

Nope. If they told you there was nothing to panic about, there was most probably something to panic about.

"And I didn't know what she was talking about, so I asked her and...someone sent an email out to all the staff at school. And...and it had a picture of me in it from...from then."

Then? As in when he was kidnapped. Someone had a picture from that and sent it out to everyone at school. But...how would they get a picture? And how would they know what school Nico went to. That...that... and if they know then...

This was bad.

"It wasn't that bad of a picture. I had clothes on and it was kinda blurry, but...but seeing it made me panic and then the implications behind it just..." He takes a deep breath. "It scared me. Someone who has that picture knows what school I go to and they're trying to scare me."

This was bad. But who could it be?

There was that teacher guy from the bookstore.

"Maybe it was that teacher guy."

What was his name? Mr. Harris? Mr. Henson?

"Mr. Henryson? Jason said that too, but I don't know. I don't know why anyone would send them to the teachers. What would anyone get out of that?"

What would anyone get out of sending pictures to teachers?

"Scare you?"

"But then he would have sent them to me. I might not even have known about them if Ms. Lansing wasn't so adamant about me knowing."

"Expose you?"

"All the teachers I have ready know. The rest shouldn't care if I exist."

Then what was the reason? There had to be something. No one would take a risk this big just for fun. But what could that reason be? Why would someone care if a bunch of teachers saw that picture? Not students. Teachers.

"I don't know," Will decided. "Are they trying to find out who it is?"

Maybe when they catch the guy they can ask them.

But Nico shook his head. "It was just one picture. Ms. Lowen said that they would do something more extensive if something else happens."

What? But...but they had to do something. What if whatever happens next is a million times worse?

"But what if something really bad happens."

"I doubt it. If they just sent pictures, I don't think their next move would immediately be kidnapping. If they wanted to kidnap me, they would do it when I wasn't expecting it."

That made sense, but... it didn't immediately squash all of the fears Will had. But Will couldn't tell Nico that. He was probably using that to keep himself calm.

"You'll be fine. If something else happens they'll figure out who it is."

"I know. Still kinda scared though."

"Understandable."  
Nico nodded. "Valerie said the same thing."

Valerie? She was Nico's friend from his old house, right?

"And she's right. Don't be embarrassed that you're afraid, but don't let your fear be the only thing that controls you."

Nico let out a short laugh, and Will smiled.

"Where did you get that line from?"

Will dramatically put a hand to his heart. "I made it up myself thank you very much."

"Well, it was beautiful. Inspiring words by Will. I'm going to write it down on my wall in red sharpie."

Will groaned. "I thought it was pretty smart."

Nico grabbed his arm and Will looked straight into his eyes. They were wide open and his mouth was curved downwards into a serious expression.

"I wasn't kidding."

He actually wrote inspiring phrases on his wall? Will hadn't seen anything before. Maybe he was starting now. It wasn't a bad idea. Happy quotes might help him feel better.

Happy quotes. That gave Will an idea.

"Oh. I want to write it then."

Will was going to write a whole bunch of happy quotes...not on his wall though. Yeah. This was a good idea. A really good idea. Will was a genius.

Nico got up from his stool and picked up the box of donuts holes before walking out of the kitchen. Will followed behind him.

"I thought you said we had enough sugar."

Nico shrugged. "You're the one who said I need to eat more. "

"I didn't mean sugar."

Oh well. If Nico opened the box, Will would be able to sneak some into his own mouth. He really shouldn't be complaining.

Will was going to be a terrible doctor when he grew up.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he pulled it out to check what it was. He had a weird feeling he was forgetting something.

  
**3:06** ****  
**Will!!!** ****  
**Where are you???** ****  
**Me and Lou have been waiting here for seven minutes**

 ****  
Oh. That's what he forgot. Lou Ellen and Cecil were going to be so mad at him.

  
**3:08** ****  
**...uhhh** ****  
**I'm at Nico's house** ****  
**Heh** ****  
**Have fun without me :)**

 

Will pocketed his phone and didn't wait for a response. He didn't want to see how Lou would respond to that.

 

  
  
Nico had given Will a red sharpie and then collapsed on his bed. Will decided to let him be. He looked tired after he cried himself out.

He still wanted the donut holes though.

"Are you sure I can just write on your wall?" Will asked.

Nico opened his eyes to look at him for a second before closing them again. "If you don't want to write on it just write it on a piece of paper. I'll tape it up later."

He pointed lazily at his desk, and then grabbed the donut holes box and teared it open.

Will shrugged and grabbed a sheet of paper off of Nico's desk. He uncapped the red sharpie and...he didn't remember what he actually said. Something about being okay to be afraid and not letting fear control you, but what were his exact words?

"I don't remember what I said," Will admitted.

"Don't be embarrassed that you're afraid, but don't let your fear be the only thing that controls you."

That sounded right. Will scrawled the words onto the paper in his best handwriting (which was decent) and then capped the sharpie back up before leaving both on Nico's desk. He then went around the bed and took a seat on it near Nico's head and more importantly the donut holes. Will immediately snagged three and stuffed two in his mouth.

These things tasted good. There was no doubt about that, but they weren't so good that he should be wanting to eat them so badly. Will was half convinced that they were made of addicting drugs. Really strange drugs since there wasn't much withdrawal.

"Did you know that the guy who made frisbee golf had his body cremated and molded into a frisbee when he died," Nico said next to him.

Will stopped chewing and thought over the statement for a bit. First, what was frisbee golf? Second, why?

"That's...that's strange."

"He probably said, I wished I was a frisbee, and then he became a frisbee. Some people want to be cats. Some people want to be trees. But this guy? This guy wanted to be a frisbee."

"He accomplished his goal," Will responded with a shrug while taking three more donut holes from the box.

Nico didn’t respond. Instead, he curled up into a ball on his side and shut it his eyes. Will swallowed and smiled.

In a few minutes half the box of donut holes was gone and Nico was sleeping with a small smile on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this chapter took so long! College started and then on top of that my phone broke. I'm currently using my brother's old one, but that has a really old version of android, so I can't download google docs. So I can only write when I have my laptop.   
> Planning to get a new one during the Black Friday sales in November. So yeah. 
> 
> For the next two weeks I have four tests and two papers due, so I won't be able to write much of this because of that too. So i have no idea when the next chapter will come out. Sorry. I'll see what I can do though. 
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Thank you for reading!   
> If you did please leave comments and/or kudos!   
> I love reading comments! Thank you to those of you who wrote comments last chapter! They really mean a lot! :)   
> I hope you all have a great day/ night wherever you are! I hope you all stay safe! :)


	16. Christmas Lights and Trauma Spikes

 

Nico sat down on the couch biting his lip. 

He wasn’t sure how confident he was with this decision. A month ago Nico would have scoffed at anyone who told him he would be sitting in another therapist’s office. He definitely needed the therapy, and maybe the second time it would work like everyone said, but it wouldn’t be worth the look his dad would give him if he asked. 

Nico definitely didn’t like his dad’s expression when he told him that he wanted to try again. It took him a week to finally decide and ask his dad, and he really hoped it would be worth it. 

The therapist walked into the room and took a seat in front of him. Nico looked at him while folding his hands together. 

“Hello Nico. I’m Mr. Brunner. It’s nice to meet you,” he greeted with a friendly smile. 

“Nice to meet you too,” Nico mumbled. 

Mr. Brunner humms. “So I talked about the logistics with your father outside. But are there any questions you have for me before we start?” 

Nico shook his head. Even if he did have any questions his thrumming heart would make him forget. 

Mr. Brunner nodded at his answer. “Well, don’t hesitate to ask any questions at any point.” 

Nico nodded his head. How long was this supposed to last? An hour? How long had passed? Where was the clock in this room? Would taking his phone out and checking the time every few minutes be rude?

“So what brought you here today, Nico?” 

What brought him here? He was supposed to be honest, right? But how honest? How honest were you supposed to be on the first day? The last time he barely talked on the first day. He only went because he had to. This time he wanted to try. But how was he supposed to do this? Why didn’t he get a guide for this? 

“Umm...my counselor suggested that I come.” 

Was that too little? 

Mr. Brunner hummed in response. “Why do you think that?” 

“Said it could help with everything and that I shouldn’t give up on therapy just because of one bad experience.” 

“I agree. Therapy isn’t helpful for everyone, but you shouldn’t give up after one try. You might just not have clicked with your old therapist or it might not have been the best time to try therapy. Things change and people are different.” 

“Yeah. So here I am.” 

Mr. Brunner smiled. “And I hope your experience this time won’t be bad.” 

Nico nodded and squeezed his hands tighter together. 

“So why did you go to therapy the first time?” 

Nico bit his lip and looked down at the carpeted floor. 

“I...uhh...I got kidnapped. And then I started having nightmares and panic attacks.” 

Mr. Brunner wrote something down. “And do you still have nightmares and panic attacks.” 

“Yes...” 

Mr. Brunner wrote something else down. “And I’m assuming that they’re both connected to the time you were kidnapped.” 

“Mainly. Sometimes they feel pretty random.” 

“Makes sense. Is there anything else?” 

Anything else? As in anything else wrong with him?

“I get really sad and tired sometimes. And I get nervous a lot. And…” Nico gripped his arm, “I sometimes cut myself. Sometimes.” 

It was okay to tell him. He was used to hearing that. He was a therapist. He’s probably heard worse. Nothing for Nico to worry about. 

Mr. Brunner wrote something else down on his clipboard. “What’s your favorite color, Nico?” 

What? 

“Umm...purple?” 

“Purple’s a nice color, but I think my favorite is green. Like grass.” 

Okay? What was this for? 

“How about your family? Tell me about them.” 

“You met my dad. And I have a stepmom. Her name’s Seph...uhh Persephone. And I have a little half sister. Her name’s Hazel. And...I had an older sister. Her name was Bianca. And my mom. They’re both dead now though.” 

God. It had been years and it still hurt. He should be able to talk about them easier now. Right? 

“I’m sorry.” 

Nico shrugged.  

“You love your family?” Mr. Brunner asked with a gentle smile. 

“Of course I do.” 

“That’s good Nico.” 

“Is there a point to this?” 

He really didn’t understand why Mr. Brunner was asking him his favorite color and what his family was like. Shouldn’t he be making him better understand what was wrong with him?

“Of course there is.” Mr. Brunner wrote something down on his clipboard before turning back up to him. “How much do you want to tell me today?” 

“What?” 

That was entirely unexpected. 

“Well, there’s obviously a lot you could tell me. That’s what usually happens during the first session. I have the patient tell me as much as they want, and then we work from there. So how much do you want to tell me today. I’ll listen to anything you say even if it’s just about your little sister.” 

“Anything.” 

“Whatever you want.” 

Nico looked down at his hands. That wasn’t what was supposed to happen, but he wasn’t about to argue. 

So Nico talked. Talked about what he wanted to from when he lived in Italy to his mom and sister dying to the day he got kidnapped and skipped over everything that happened then and went right into his trip to disney over the summer to moving to meeting Will to seeing Mr. Henryson to the picture being sent out. He talked and talked and skipped over anything he really didn’t want to think about, and Mr. Brunner listened only speaking to ask a question. 

And well, that wasn’t too bad. Nico actually felt a bit better. Maybe he really did just need someone he could rant to and wouldn’t be annoyed when he rambled on. 

The hour flew by, and Nico just finished when Mr. Brunner told him that time was up. He led him out of the room back towards the waiting room where his father was reading a book with a scowl on his face. 

And when Mr. Brunner told him that he would see him again next week, Nico didn’t feel as anxious as he did before. Maybe this would actually work out. 

  
  


“Morning Will!” He greeted the next morning. 

Will looked up from whatever was on his desk and towards him surprised before smiling. “Morning. You look happy.” 

Nico shrugged and sat down in his seat next to him. “I’m in a good mood. There’s only a week left until winter break. Two weeks of no school.” 

“Yeah. And I have three tests next week.” 

Nico frowned. “Don’t remind me of them. I was in a good mood and you went and ruined it. This is supposed to be the other way around, Will.” 

“Well, one of us has to crush the other’s dreams.” 

Will laughed and lifted his arms from over what he was studying so closely earlier. Nico leaned forward to see what it was only to be met with a...driver’s manual? What was Will doing reading this? They weren’t supposed to start Driver’s Ed until February. 

“Why do you have a driver’s manual?” Nico asked. 

Will looked at his desk, and his eyes widened. He quickly pulled it off his desk and stuffed it into his backpack. 

“Will?” 

“No reason. Just curious.” 

“Will. That doesn’t make any sense.” 

“It’s nothing important.” 

Nothing important. Sure. 

“That’s why you hid it as soon as I mentioned it,” Nico huffed. “Whatever. I won’t ask. You don’t make me tell you anything, and I won’t make you tell me anything. But...but I’m here to listen if you need someone to.” 

Will didn't respond. Instead he started doodling in his notebook. 

“I went to a therapist yesterday,” Nico started changing the topic. 

“Didn’t you already have one?” 

“Not since I moved here.”

“Wasn’t that months ago?”

“Yes.” 

Will looked him over for a second before shrugging. “Did it go well?” 

“I have no idea.” 

Will smiled. “Fair enough. You look happy though.” 

“It’s a Friday. Everyone is happy on Fridays.” 

Okay maybe not everyone. But a lot of people. Right? 

He was happy on Fridays. 

“No one said anything about the picture,” Will mentioned. “It’s been two weeks.” 

Will really wanted to ruin his mood today didn’t he. Nico hoped he was feeling alright. 

“What would happen?” 

Will shrugged and looked back down at his notebook. “I have no idea. I just find it weird that someone would send it for no reason.” 

“Well, maybe they were an idiot.” 

Will shrugged again and continued to doodle in his notebook. Nico frowned. 

What was going on? Will was supposed to be happy and energetic. His eyes were supposed to sparkle and his smile was supposed to brighten up a room. He wasn’t supposed to look so...sad? Defeated? 

This wasn’t right. And Nico couldn’t get Will to talk. That would hypocritical. 

Nico gave Will one more concerned glance before sighing and pulling out his notebook for class. 

  
  


Nico threw a tennis ball at a tree...or at least he was trying to throw it at the tree. He completely missed. He sighed and got up from the ground to go pick up the ball. He grabbed it and sat back down where he was. He threw the ball again. This time it hit the tree and he caught it when it came back. 

He held the ball and looked towards the playground where Hazel was jump roping with one of her friends, Gwen. Why did the two of them insist that they wanted to play outside? It was the middle of December. Sure, it wasn’t freezing yet, but it was cold enough that normal people wouldn’t want to be outside playing in the park for more than an hour. Elementary schoolers weren’t normal. They wanted to play outside when it _ was _ freezing and complained when the teacher said no. 

Nico pulled his beanie further down and covered his eyes. Why couldn’t Seph go with them? She knew he hated the cold. 

Why couldn’t they move to like South California. It was supposed to be warm there. But then again Nico hated the heat too. He probably hated the heat even more than he hated the cold. 

Why couldn’t fall stay forever? Cold enough to wear a jacket, but not so cold he felt like his fingers were going to freeze off even when he was wearing gloves. 

Why wasn’t he used to the cold? He was born in January. 

At least it snowed during the winter. Nico loved snow. It was always so pretty when it fell down and blanketed everything. And if it snowed enough he wouldn’t have to go to school. And Nico’s dad had money, so he didn’t have to do any of the shoveling either. Nico lived a good life. 

He lied down on the ground and looked up at the clouds floating by. It looked like it was going to rain. 

He pulled his phone out and checked the time. Ugh. He wasn’t wearing his glasses. He held the phone further away and made out 2:37. 

Oh. And he got a text message too. From...he really needed his glasses. He sighed and pocketed his phone. He’d check later.

He looked back at Hazel and her friend still jumping rope. They’d been out here for more than an hour and a half. How were they not tired? This was insanity. Nico was hungry. And cold. And tired just from looking at them. 

He sat up and marched up to them. He was done with this. 

“Come on Hazel. Let’s go back in.” 

Hazel stopped jumping. “A little longer,” she pleaded. 

“Can’t you jump rope in the backyard?” 

The backyard where he could watch them from the comfort of the kitchen window. 

Hazel looked like she was thinking things over and nodded her head. She happily grabbed her friend’s hand and pulled her back towards their house. 

Nico followed close behind them and opened the gate for them to go to the backyard. “Don’t stay out too long or you’re going to get a cold.” 

“It’s not cold.” 

“It’s 45 degrees.” 

“Not cold. It gets cold when it’s 30 degrees.” 

“That’s below freezing.” 

“Yep.” And with that she ran into the backyard. Nico sighed and closed the gate walking up to the front door. 

When Hazel got a cold, he would laugh before trying to help her. Maybe that would teach her a lesson. Or maybe she was just immune to the cold which was totally unfair. 

He opened the front door and walked inside taking off his shoes and jacket before he went to his room to trade his hat for his glasses. Now he just needed to do something about his hunger. 

He made his way down to the kitchen and quickly looked outside to make sure Hazel and Gwen were okay. They looked like they were throwing leaves at each other now. Nico just shrugged and went back to looking for food. 

He found the lasagna he had made last week during his weird cooking spree, and heated up a slice. While he waited, he pulled out his phone to check his text message. It was from Will. Getting messages from Will wasn’t anywhere near strange, but after his weird mood yesterday, Nico found it odd. 

 

**1:57**

**Did you know that when you’re travelling at 55 mph it takes 265 ft to stop when you brake**

**Or at least that’s what the book says**

**That’s like 88 yards**

**Thats so far**

**It’s like...44 6 ft**

**Take someone who’s 6 ft and line up 44 of them**

 

That was odd. Was he talking about the driver’s manual? What was up with that? 

 

**2:54**

**Umm...no**

**Why?**

 

The microwave dinged that the lasagna was heated up. Nico opened it and grabbed a fork before sitting down in front of the window and watching Hazel and Gwen...throw rings? Horseshoes but with foam rings. Whatever. 

Nico’s phone lighted up on the counter next to his plate, and he got excited that it was Will. But then he saw Valerie’s name and picture, and he got disappointed for a second before getting excited again. 

“Hey,” he greeted. 

“Nico! Guess what?” She shouted excitedly. 

“Umm...you met an alien.” 

“No sadly. But it’s close to that good.” 

“Oh. They sell sea salt ice cream in that ice cream shop across from your house now.” 

“No. Not that either.” 

Nico put a piece of lasagna in his mouth and thought over what else it could be. “You teared that maroon dress you hate, so you don’t have to wear it or make your mom sad that you don’t like it.” 

“No. But I haven’t worn it in months.” 

“Uhh...I have no idea then.” 

Nico put another bite into his mouth and looked outside. They were still throwing the rings. 

“I’m going to see my cousins and aunt over the break.” 

Her aunt? The one who lived in Maine? Or the one who lived in England?

Either way, Nico didn’t really understand why she was excited about it. All of her cousins were either way older to way younger than her. She had never been this excited before. 

“Which aunt?”

“My mom’s sister.” 

Her mom had a sister? Nico did not know this. How in the world did she hide an aunt from him? 

“Your mom has a sister?” 

Valerie huffed. “Yes. You’ve met her before. She’s the one who made that blue fairy doll for Hazel.” 

What? 

“I thought she was your cousin.” 

Valerie laughed at the other end and Nico could feel his cheeks warm up. How did he get that wrong? 

“No. She’s my aunt. Oh my God Neeks.” 

“I’m sorry!” 

Valerie continued to laugh, and Nico huffed as he stuffed more lasagna into his mouth. 

“She’s my aunt. And I’m going to visit her.” 

“Well, you must really like her then if you’re this excited.” 

He stuffed another piece in his mouth. The ring Hazel threw hit a tree and made a sound ring loud enough that he could clearly hear it. The rings were apparently not foam. That wasn’t safe. 

“I’m not excited to see my aunt. Wait no. That sounds mean. I do like her, but I’m more excited by where she lived than her.” 

“Where does she live?” 

Why was Hazel standing behind the ring stand? This couldn’t end well. 

“The address you sent me when you first moved. That was the right address, yeah?” 

“Umm...yes.” 

Nico put his fork down and kept an eye out the window. 

“Well, my aunt’s house happens to be an hour away.” 

“That’s cool...wait.” 

An hour away? 

“You’re coming to visit. I’ll be able to see you!” Nico cheered. 

“That took you awhile,” Val teased him with a laugh. 

“Sorry, I was watching Hazel play….oh no.” 

The ring Gwen threw flew through the sky and hit Hazel directly in the face. Nico got up from his seat. 

“I’ll talk to you later Val. But I’m really excited.” 

“Is Hazel okay?” 

“She’ll be fine.” 

“Oh okay. Tell her I hope she feels better. Bye Nico.” 

“Bye.” 

He quickly shut his phone off and ran outside through the back door. 

  
  


Will didn’t end up responding. At least Nico responded to Will’s text messages when he was upset.  He really hoped that he was alright. 

Nico walked into their PE class and Will was already there messing with his phone. Nico went over and sat down next to him. 

“Hey Will,” Nico greeted slowly. 

Will looked towards him and smiled. “Hey Nico! Have a good weekend?” 

This...this wasn’t what he was expecting. Will looks sad all of Friday, sends him one panicked text message, doesn't respond to any of his text messages, and then shows up acting entirely normal. What the heck? 

“It was good. How was yours?” 

“It was alright.” Will shrugged and went back to whatever he was doing on his phone. 

“Had something to do with driving and braking distance?” Nico hissed. 

That was mean. Why couldn’t he ask him normally? He was just getting so frustrated. 

“Oh yeah. That’s cool, right? 265 feet.” He made a weird face at his phone before glancing over at him and smiling. 

“Will? What’s wrong?” 

Will raised his eyebrows and looked back at his phone. “Nothing’s wrong. Why?”

“You’re acting weird.” 

“I’m not. You’re imagining things.” 

Will,” Nico stressed through clenched teeth. 

“Maybe you should get that checked up on, Neeks. Hallucinations aren’t good.” 

“I’m not hallucinating.” 

Will didn't respond. Nico groaned in frustration. He leaned closer to Will to look at his screen. A multiple choice question? A multiple choice question asking what a stop sign meant? 

“You’re afraid of cars,” Nico pointed out. 

“Yeah. Your point?” Will asked with a harsh bite in his tone. 

Nico flinched back. “Just curious,” he mumbled. 

This wasn’t like Will. Will was allowed to be angry. There was nothing wrong with that. But Will didn’t sound that harsh. Or at least Will never said anything that harshly to him. Will’s anger was never directed towards him. 

“Your curiosity is going to get you in trouble some day.” He sighed and put his phone down. “Maybe I’m trying to get better,” he said softer.  

“You’re trying really hard,” Nico responded gently. 

Will huffed and turned away. 

“Your fear of cars, right? You’re trying to not be as afraid, right?” Nico asked desperately. 

“Yeah. Mom told me to try taking a permit test, so I started studying.”

“And that’s good. Trying is good.” 

Will sighed. “I’m the one who said to not let fear control you while I’m the one who lets fear control them. I don’t even know why I’m afraid now.” 

“Cars are scary. There’s nothing wrong with that fear. You just haven’t done anything about for a while, so it started becoming a part of your life. You won’t get over it in a week.”

“It’s just so stupid.” 

Nico opened his mouth to say something, but the bell rang and Coach Hedge yelled out to the gym to go change. Will immediately got up and rushed out of the gym without waiting for him.  Nico sighed and slowly walked out of the gym. 

Maybe it would be best to give Will some space. 

  
  


Apparently Will was giving him the silent treatment. He didn’t respond to a thing Nico said. He didn’t even lend him a pencil when he asked. Nico groaned and collapsed on his bed. 

What was he supposed to do? He wasn’t good with emotions. He could barely understand his own. How was he supposed to help someone else. 

Nico sighed and sat up. He had a government test to study for and an English essay to write. His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he quickly pulled it out. Why wasn’t his phone on silent? 

He looked at the notification. Valerie? 

 

**3:27**

**Look look**

**New trailer**

**[video]**

 

Oh hey a new...wait trailer. Game. That gave his an idea. 

  
  


Nico spent the entirety of the afternoon googling and searching amazon, so his essay was crap and he didn’t study at all. Whatever. 

At least the test wasn’t too hard. Bless multiple choice tests that always had answers that made no sense. 

Will easily avoided him the entire day. Nico could feel his chest tightening, but he elected to ignore it. Will didn’t actually hate him. He was just frustrated because of his car phobia...whatever that was called. 

Wednesday went by the same as Monday. Will refused to reply to him and kept his eyes on his phone or the teacher. By Chemistry class, Nico gave up on trying to make him talk. It clearly wasn’t working. At least Will still sat next to him, so he couldn't be too mad. 

On Thursday, Nico found his package waiting for him after his appointment, and he spent three hours trying to figure out how to wrap it. In the end, he gave up and just put everything into a gift bag. He can learn the art of gift wrapping when he has more time and energy. 

And then Friday came and Nico found Will in the hallway about to enter the gym. Nico rushed over and grabbed his arm before pulling him over to the end of the hallway. Will tried to pull away, but Nico gave him a glare and tightened his grip. Will just sighed and followed behind him. 

When they got to the emptier hallway, Nico let go of him and held up the gift bag. 

“Merry Christmas,” he mumbled. 

Will stared at the gift bag with a confused expression. Nico rolled his eyes. 

“It’s a gift. You’re supposed to say that I didn’t have to, and then I say I did anyway, and then you take it, open it, say that you love it even if it sucks, and then thank me.” 

Will didn’t respond to that at all. Instead, he continued to just stare at the bag emotionlessly. Nico bit his lip and pushed the bag into Will’s hands before crossing his arms and looking down.  

Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe he should have just left Will alone. Maybe Will  _ did  _ hate him now. Maybe that’s why he was avoiding him to begin with. Will hated him. Nico knew he shouldn’t have gotten attached. He knew this was going to happen. Stupid Nico. Stupid. 

He has his own problems to deal with. He doesn’t want to deal with you too. You’re just making everything worse. 

“Is this a koala?” Will asked.

Nico looked over at him. Will was staring at the koala plushie with raised eyebrows. 

“It’s soft,” Nico whispered. “And hugging plushies and stuff helps me feel better. And it’s cute.” 

A small smile spread across Will’s face. “Yeah. It’s cute.” 

Nico shuffled his feet as Will continued to admire the koala. “There’s something else in there.” 

Will looked back down at the bag and reached into pull something out.

He stared at the item. “A racing game?” 

“I...I thought that if you got really good at a game you would feel less scared controlling a real one,” Nico explained. “But now that I’m saying it outloud it sounds really stupid.” 

Will continued to stare at the game not saying anything. 

“Sorry,” they both said at the same time. 

“Why are you apologizing?” Will asked panicked. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m the one who yelled at you and then ignored you all week.” Will’s eyes widened. “I’ve been ignoring you all week. Nico I’m so sorry. I’m so stupid.” 

He was talking to him again. He wasn’t mad at him. He didn’t hate him. Nico wanted to collapse onto the ground with relief. 

“It’s alright Will.” 

Will rapidly shook his head. “It’s not alright. I ignored you, and you were just trying to help.” 

“I accidentally hit you in panic, and you ignore me. That’s fair.” 

“When did you hit me?” 

“That time when I had a nightmare and you grabbed my arm.” 

“You didn’t hit me.” 

He didn’t? Nico could have sworn he hit him. Huh. 

“Well, it’ll probably happen eventually. I’ve ran away from you multiple times though. And then avoided you after I found out we were soulmates. So it’s alright Will. Hated the experience. Please do not do it again. But I’m not mad.” 

Will looked down at the presents in his hands. “You’re real great you know that.” 

“I’m decent.” 

“No. You’re really really great. I got lucky.” 

Nico could feel his cheeks warm up and he bit his cheek. He wasn’t supposed to feel embarrassed. The five minute bell rang and students started to move through the hallways way from the one the two of them were in.

“So...are you feeling better than you were Monday?” 

Will glanced up at him before looking back down. “I’m really really sorry. I was just...my mom gave me a drivers manual the day after your picture was sent out, and I think I ignored everything since I was worried about you, but then you were okay, and I actually started to properly think about what she said, and I...I panicked I guess.” 

Will sighed and leaned against the wall. Nico stepped a bit closer. 

“I guess I just wanted to avoid the problem, but then my mom mentioned how I couldn’t live like this forever, and she’s right. I can’t. I can’t stay here forever. So I started studying the driver’s manual, and at first it was okay. Studying it was easy. And I started breezing through the practise tests, but just the thought of actually being in a car still scared me, and I got frustrated, and I guess I started taking it out on everyone else.” 

Nico mulled over his words before leaning onto the wall next to Will. “Understandable.” 

Will looked towards him and opened his mouth before closing it again. “What?” 

“I mean,” Nico started, “You got really frustrated, and you needed to take it out somewhere. I once yelled at Hazel after a really bad nightmare. And I felt really bad afterwards, but I started ignoring her because I was scared that she would hate me. But she didn’t. And I didn’t take my frustrations out properly. Hurting other people because you hurt isn’t good, but sometimes it happens and you have to apologize and hope they forgive you.” 

“Yeah. Sorry.” 

Nico smiled. “It’s fine. Just talk to someone next time. The amount of times you tell me to talk to someone and then you keep everything in.” 

Will’s cheeks turned red and he laughed nervously. “Yeah. That was stupid. I just didn’t want to annoy you. You’re going through worse.” 

Nico eyes widened. What the hell was he talking about? 

Nico grabbed Will’s shoulders and stared at him intensely. “I don’t care if you’re upset about a bad grade you got in English; it’s still important if you’re upset, and I won’t be annoyed. This isn’t some ‘who has it worse’ competition. I care about you, and I care if you’re upset no matter the reason.” A small smile spread across his face. “Okay?” 

Will looked down down to the floor before nodding his head. 

“Good,” Nico decided letting go of his shoulders.

He backed away a step, but Will grabbed his wrists before he stepped away too far. A sob spilled from Will’s mouth and Nico’s smile disappeared. 

“Will?” 

Will let go of his right arm and wiped his eyes. Nico stepped closer. 

“Do you want a hug?” Nico asked. 

Will immediately wrapped his arms around his and buried his face in his shoulder. Nico froze at the contact for a second before sighing and wrapping his arms around Will and rubbing his back and murmuring assurances under his breath. 

The bell for first period rang, but neither of them moved to get to class. 

  
  


Nico was taping up the drawing Hazel made for him when the doorbell rang. His dad and Seph went out to have a Christmas Lunch date or something. Nico wasn’t entirely sure. Hazel was in her room drawing. Or at least that’s what she said she was going to do ten minutes ago. 

Nico set the tape down and walked downstairs to open the door. He looked through the peephole, and Will? What was he doing here? 

Nico opened the door and Will smiled brightly at him. “Merry Christmas.” He held out a wrapped gift. 

Apparently Will knew how to wrap gifts. Or he took the effort to ask someone else to wrap it. 

“Umm...Merry Christmas Will.” 

Nico opened the door more and pulled Will inside. There was no way he was letting him stay outside in the cold. He closed the door behind him and led Will to the kitchen where it was warmer. 

“It smells sweet,” Will observed. 

“I made cupcakes and cookies.” 

The entered the kitchen and Will looked down at the sweets. He picked up a reindeer shaped cookie. “Cute.” 

Nico walked up to him. “So what brings you here?” 

Will looked at the cookie before looking towards him and setting down the cookie. He held out a gift in between them. “Gift.” 

Nico stared at it. “You didn’t have to come all the way here just to give me a present. You didn’t have to get me a gift to begin with.” 

“But I already did, so you have to take it now.” 

Nico shrugged and took the gift. He set the box on the table and carefully peeled the tape off. Inside there was a flash drive sitting on top of a box filled with different colored strips of paper. He grabbed the small transparent box with the flashdrive and looked at Will curiously. 

“What’s this? Just a flashdrive?” 

Will shook his head. “I...uhh...I put songs on it. To cheer you up.” Will pointed to the box. “And I took slips of paper and on the blue ones I wrote cool facts. And on the the green ones I wrote inspirational quotes and stuff. And on the purple ones I wrote...uhh…” Will’s cheeks dusted pink. “Well, I wrote things that I like about you. So when you feel bad you can just reach into the box and pull out something to cheer you up.” 

Nico looked down at the box and the flashdrive in his hand. Will put in that much effort just for present? 

“Thanks Will.” 

Will scratched the back of his neck. “It was nothing.” He smiled. “Your not just saying that even though it sucks, right?” 

“No. I do like it. A lot. Thank you.” 

Will sighed in relief. “Well, then, I’m glad.” He picked up the cookie from before and took a bite. “This is so good.” 

Nico chucked and put the flashdrive down on the box. “I try my best.” 

Will looked back towards him. “Oh yeah. I have one more thing. Close your eyes.” 

Nico titled his head in confusion but went along with it. He could hear the sound of Will’s coat and then felt Will put something on his head like a headband. 

“One second,” Will called. 

Nico waited until Will gave him the go to open his eyes. Will immediately shoved his phone into his face. On the screen there was a picture of Nico with his eyes closed wearing...reindeer antlers? Seriously? 

Nico pulled the accessory off his head and looked at it. It was soft and had two small bells at the top along with decorated threads of blue and green wrapped around the light brown antlers. 

“Delete the picture,” Nico insisted. 

Will shook his head. “No way. I’m keeping it forever.” 

“Will!” Nico protested. But Will just shrugged and continued to munch on his cookie. 

Nico sighed. What was Will going to do with a picture of him with reindeer antlers anyway? At worst he was going to show Jason or Cecil and they would tease him for two minutes. 

Nico sat down at one of the stools while Will reached over and grabbed one of the cupcakes. He opened the box and pulled out a blue slip of paper. 

 

_ Koalas can sleep 22 hours a day! (So much sleep. I wish I was a Koala.)  _

 

Nico smiled and put the slip of paper back into the box. 

“This cupcake is great too,” Will commented. 

“I would be a disgrace if I couldn’t make a decent cupcake.” 

Will smiled at him and then took another bite of the sweet. “I got so lucky,” he mumbled under his breath. 

“Lucky about what?” 

Will looked up towards him panicked and looked around the room. “Umm..uhh..because I came to your house. I got free sweets. Good sweets. Unlike Andy’s. His suck, but we have to lie and tell him they’re okay.” 

“Your family does not have any luck in the cooking department do they?” 

Will shrugged. “I’m going to eat your sweets and never be able to eat anything else again.” 

Nico lightly kicked him in the leg. “They’re not good.” 

“But they are.” 

“Careful, or you’re going to boost my ego.” 

“Then I shall continue.” 

Nico rolled his eyes and grabbed his own cupcake. “If you want to take some home you can.” 

“You are an amazing person and deserve all the good in the world.” 

“Ego.” 

“Needs boosting.” 

Nico sighed and pulled out another slip of paper from the box. This time green. 

 

_ “Watch the clock. Do what it does. Keep going!” _

_ (Go! Go! GO!)  _

 

“What does your arm say Will?” 

Will looked at him for a second before pulled up his sleeve and looking at his arm. 

Nico want entirely sure why he kept asking Will what was on his arm. Maybe Nico just felt better knowing that he really was Will’s soulmate. 

“It is not tradition to throw eggs at people’s houses, Leo.”

“Leo randomly calls me and asks if I want to participate in a Christmas tradition. I asked what, and he said egg throwing. That’s Halloween not Christmas.” 

“Leo? Jason’s friend, right?” 

“Yep.” 

“Interesting guy.” 

“He’s both the smartest and dumbest person I know.” 

Will opened his mouth to respond, but he stopped and started digging in his pocket. He pulled out his phone. 

“I need to go. I was just supposed to drop the present off. My mom’s waiting outside.” 

Nico felt disappointment rush through his chest, but he smiled and got up. “I’ll get a box.” 

He grabbed one of the containers from the cabinet and put six cupcakes and ten cookies into it before clasping on the lid and handing it to Will. 

“Merry Christmas.” 

“Merry Christmas, Neeks.” 

Will took the box and Nico led him out of the house waving to him as he sat down in his car. Nico immediately turned around and closed the door behind him. 

Stupid winter. 

Nico went back to the kitchen and grabbed the box and flash drive before heading back to his room. He set the presents on his desk and continued taping Hazel’s picture. Once he was done he set the tape back on the desk and stared at the box of paper. 

Purple. Things Will likes about him. Why were there so many? 

Nico took one of the slips and unfolded it. 

 

_ Look in a mirror. That’s the face of someone who hasn’t given up  _

_ And that’s amazing Neeks! ^_^ _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was supposed to be purely cute and fluffy. I don't know what happened. I sat down to write and then boom.  
> Oh well. I think it turned out okay. 
> 
> And what's on Nico's playlist? I don't know.  
> If anyone wants to make one or suggest any songs, feel free to. Just message me or leave a comment and I can attach the playlist here. 
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed! Thank you for reading!  
> This story has reached 300 kudos and that's amazing!!!  
> Please leave comments if you enjoyed! I love reading comments!  
> I hope you all have a great day/night wherever you are! Happy October! ^-^


	17. Baked Goods and Metal Death Traps

“And you’re back?” Nico greeted with a smirk. 

Will nervously laughed before holding out Nico’s box. “Well, you gave us food in a plastic container. And of course,  _ you have to _ return these, but you can’t just return them without putting food in them as well. So of course Mom got super excited and put all of Andy’s muffins in them.” Will’s voice dropped into a whisper. “Just throw them away. We needed to get rid of them. They’re so bad.” 

Nico looked down at the box in Will’s hands before bursting out into laughter. Will stared at him confused. 

At least someone was finding this situation funny. Will most certainly did not. Relieved that he was finally rid of Andy’s horrendous muffins? Yes. Amused? No. These muffins were no joke. They were torturous. They tasted alright the first time, but by the third time he wanted to throw the muffin at Andy’s face and pray to the god of baked goods. 

Nico soon stopped laughing, but he was still smiling when he took the container of muffins from him. 

“Do you want to come in?” He asked. “It’s cold.” He turned to look behind Will. “Unless your mom is waiting to hear about your victory.” 

“No. She’s not here. I took the bus.” 

Nico moved out of the doorway and waved him in before quickly closing the door behind him. 

“Why didn’t you say that in the beginning? Now I’m freezing,” Nico complained. 

Will shrugged.

“I hate you. If I get sick, it’s all your fault.” 

“You want me to immediately say, ‘Hey Nico it’s cold. Can I come inside?’, as soon as you open the door?” Will responded with animated hand gestures. 

“That’s what you did when you came over with fifty bags of junk food.” 

“There were like ten bags max.” 

“It’s still not finished. It’s almost been a month.” 

“You’re just eating too slowly.” 

“It's always my eating habits,” Nico mumbled before shaking his head and walking further into the house. Will followed behind him to the kitchen. 

On one of the stools there was a girl who looked up at them with a cookie in her mouth, holding a metal tin. She had dark red hair tied up into a messy bun, and bright green eyes that peeked out under her bangs. Freckles spotted her tan skin next to her dimples on her cheeks because of her huge smile as she chewed on the cookie. 

She waved at them with the cookie in her hand and swung her legs on the stool. “I found the cookies,” she announced proudly as her took another bite. 

“You come to my house and what do you do? You immediately try eating all of my food,” Nico mumbles, but there was smile on his face. 

Clearly Nico knew the girl if that was the case, but who was she? 

Nico grabbed the cookies tin from her arm, and the girl pouted. He set the box of muffins on her lap before he walked away to put the cookie tin on the counter across the kitchen. The girl opened the box, and a smile spread across her face as she grabbed one of the muffin. 

Will was about to warn her about them, but Nico started talking before he could. 

“How did you finish half the tin of cookies in the five minutes I was at the door? And where’s the lid?” 

The girl grabbed one of the muffins before setting the rest of the box on the counter. “It’s been months since I’ve last had your food. I have to make up for it in the time that I’m here. And it’s right here.” She pointed towards the counter to a blue and red lid before taking a huge bite out of the muffin. 

Nico turned around and walked over to pick up the lid. Will kept an eye on the girl to see what expression she would make to the evil muffin. Her face started with a smile as she happily chewed on the travesty, but soon her chewing slowed down and her expression morphed to a weird hybrid of disgust and annoyed. She set the muffin on the table and huffed. 

“These are disgusting,” she complained. 

“I know. Will said they were,” Nico responded while he was putting the cookie tin into a shelf. 

“Will?” 

That seemed to distract her from the muffin. She turned towards him and jumped off the stool her eyes narrowing as she walked forward. 

That was...odd. 

She stopped in front of Will and looked him over. Will backed away a step. Her gaze felt like she was looking not at Will, but instead, into his soul to judge him if he was worthy to be standing in this house. Or maybe she was just mad about the muffin. Will would be annoyed about it too. 

But a few seconds later, the girl smiled and held out her hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m Valerie.” 

Valerie? As in Nico’s friend Valerie? That made more sense. Explained why Nico felt so comfortable bantering with her. 

Will shook her hand with a smile on his own face. 

Nico talked about Valerie every once and a while, but Will had absolutely no idea what she looked like. Well, now he did. 

“Did you come all the way here just to visit?” He asked. 

Valerie shook her head. “No. I came here to visit my aunt and then noticed that her house was pretty close to his,” she pointed at Nico who was now dumping the muffins into the trash can where they belonged. “So I thought, ‘I haven’t seen him for a while. This would be a good opportunity to do that.’ So here I am.” 

“No she didn’t,” Nico argued. “She thought, “I haven’t annoyed his family and eaten everything in their fridge for months. I’m bored. I should do that.’”

Valerie shrugged. “I shall neither confirm nor deny.” 

Nico smiled and set the now empty box of muffins in the sink. Then he turned towards me. “Hey Will, do me a favor.” 

Will didn’t have anything planned for today, and if Nico was asking something from him, then it probably wasn’t anything too bad. 

“Sure.” 

“Keep Valerie company. I have my therapy appointment in a bit and I need to go. But she’ll eat my entire house if I leave her alone.” 

What? 

“Have fun.” 

Then he left the kitchen before Will could even fully process what he just said. 

So now Will was alone in Nico’s house with Nico’s best friend who he only heard the occasional story of. 

That wasn’t too bad. Will was usually great with people, and if Valerie was Nico’s best friend, then she would be a good person. This would also give him an opportunity to get to know his soulmate’s close friend. And how long would this even be?  And hour or so? He would be fine. 

Valerie immediately turned around, walked to the cupboard and grabbed the cookie tin Nico just put away. 

“You want a cookie?” She asked taking off the lid. 

Will stared at the container. How could he say no to good cookies? 

The two of them silently ate their cookies until the entire tin was empty except for the crumbs sitting at the bottom. 

“Nico’s going to be annoyed,” Valerie said as he closed up the tin and put it back in the cupboard. “Oh well.” She turned back towards him. “You want to play a video game?” 

Will shrugged. “Sure.” 

She smiled and made her way out of the kitchen. Will followed after her to the living room where she was picking up the remote. 

“What do you wanna play?” She asked. 

Will towards the TV. “Whatever.” 

She looked towards him before shrugging and picking up the two controllers sitting on the TV stand. She handed him one and jumped onto the couch. Will sat down next to her. She scrolled towards the games on the screen expressionless. 

Will leaned back and sighed. This was...awkward. They hadn’t said anything more than five sentences to each other in the past twenty minutes. She didn’t look like she was a quiet person, so Will didn’t think it was like Nico’s silence where he felt comfortable in it. No, it was awkward. Really awkward. 

“What’s your favorite color?” Valerie asked with her eyes still on the TV. Will snapped out his thoughts and looked towards her. 

“Huh? Umm..yellow.” 

She nodded. “I like blue.” 

“Uhh...cool.” 

“How about animal? I like the jackass penguins. They’re adorable, but they’re called jackass penguins because they’re really loud. And they live in South Africa. They’re so weird.” 

What the hell? 

“That’s interesting.” 

“I know. They sound like donkey. The little jackasses.” 

Will was now understanding why Nico and her got along so well. He could very easily imagine Nico telling him the same thing. 

“Well, I don’t know what my favorite animal is.” 

“Then what do you know you like?” She asked putting her controller down on her lap and turning to him. “I only know what Nico’s told me about you, but I want to know who you are from you.” 

Will understood that. He shared the same sentiment. The only problem was that Will was really bad at talking about what he liked. He could barely ever pick anything as his favorite since he was either too embarrassed by what the answer was or too indecisive to pick one. 

“Umm...I want to be a doctor?” 

Good job Will. You already messed up. That sentence didn’t even include the word like. 

But Valerie didn’t complain. She just smiled. “That’s cool. I could never be a doctor. I’m too squeamish. I want to be a teacher. But maybe a highschool teacher. I don’t think I can deal with ten year olds.” 

“My mom’s an elementary school music teacher.” 

“I respect her dedication to stand in a room and tell children to scream. And then listen to them scream and tell them they’re doing great.” 

Will laughed. “They’re not that bad. Sure, she complains about some kid screaming instead of singing every once and a while, but it doesn’t happen everyday.”

“One day too many,” Valerie huffed as she leaned back into the couch. “Way too much work to wrangle up twenty kids.” She grabbed the controller from her lap and clicked on a game. 

“What are we playing,” Will asked. 

“Ibb and Obb.” 

“Never heard of it.” 

Valerie smiled and shrugged. “Teamwork.” 

  
  


Apparently Ibb and Obb was an annoying game where you control two blobs through a puzzle to get to the end. Will really hated puzzle games. He could solve math problems and write essays, but he could not understand how Valerie and him were supposed to control two blobs to get from point A to B. 

It got easier as things went on, but Valerie was still the one coming up with most of the ideas that worked. It was fun though. Will might not be able to do the logical part as quickly, but controlling his green blob, ibb apparently, through the stages and getting to the end was exciting. 

Valerie seemed to be very into it as well if her screaming at the screen when things did or did not work said anything. They just completed level six when Valerie said that she was going to raid Nico’s fridge again. Will followed her to the kitchen. 

“Didn’t he tell you not to raid his fridge?” Will teased. 

“Yeah. And he told you to stop me,” she argued pulling a plastic container out. 

“No. He said that if he left you alone you would eat everything. He did not tell me to stop you from eating.” 

Valerie put the container in the microwave and shrugged. “I’m not eating everything.” 

“Yet.” 

She grinned. “Yet.” 

That was smoother. It seemed like the initial awkward stage was gone. Talking about Jackass penguins and playing a game about two blobby friends seemed to do the trick in that regard. Will wouldn’t say they were friends yet, but it could get there. 

“Valerie grabbed a fork and pulled the container out of the microwave as it dinged. She pulled off the lid and threw it into the sink and sat down next to him. It looked like she was eating some mixed vegetable thing. And there was some meat too.  It looked like chicken. 

“Did you want some,” She asked. 

He was a little hungry. “Maybe a little.” 

“I’ll grab you a plate,” she said setting the container on the kitchen counter and standing up. 

She grabbed a plate and a fork and handed it to him before shoving the container in his direction and sitting back down. “So Will? Did you like the game Nico got you?” 

Will moved to scoop up some of the food but paused at her question. 

She knew about that? Will shouldn’t have found that surprising. She was Nico’s best friend. 

“I haven’t played it yet,” he admitted. 

“Why not? Nico said you liked racing games, so he needed suggestions for what to get you.” 

Made sense. Apparently Nico didn’t tell Valerie about his car fear. Will wouldn’t have minded if he did, but it made him happy that Nico didn’t tell someone he didn’t know without asking even though that person was his best friend. 

“I don’t really like racing games,” he admitted. 

That caused her to raise an eyebrow. “What? Then why did Nico think you did?” 

Will continued to scoop up the food into his plate. It would be much easier to do with a spoon, but he was nothing getting up for that. 

“He doesn’t.” 

“Then?” 

“I hate cars. I’m really scared of riding in them or being near them. So Nico thought that a game might help me. I don’t think it will, but it’s cute that he tried.” 

His mom had tried that method already. There was a reason he had ten different racing games at home and half of them had never been opened. Well, now he had eleven. He opened the one Nico got him though. 

“Don’t tell him I didn’t play it. I don’t want him to feel bad.” 

“I won’t.” 

Will pushed the container back to her, and she picked it up. 

“When we were younger,” she continued. “I think eleven. There was this incident on the news that an elevator broke and fell, and the people inside all died. So I got really scared of elevators. So Nico being the nerd he is goes and learns everything he possibly can about elevators and told me about everything. How the tension force moved them up and down and how elevator ropes could hold over 2000 pounds and how only twenty seven people died from elevator accidents each year, so my chances were 1 in 10 million.”

“And did that help?” 

She shrugged. “Kinda. It made me start riding elevators again. I still sometimes opted for the stairs, but over time, I got over it.” She shoved some of her food into her mouth, and Will did the same thinking over her words. 

He was pretty much doing the same. Reading through the driving manual to learn all of the safety rules and safety measure in a car. The next step would be slowly increasing the amount of time he stayed in one. 

“Slow and steady,” he mumbled. 

“Slow and steady indeed,” Valerie repeated. “You can’t over a fear in a day. And sometimes you can’t get over it in a decade or even your entire life. But you can’t give up until you try everything you can.” 

“Yeah. Try everything. Putting it off for a few years probably made things worse.” 

“Maybe. I don’t know what happened, but I don’t think it’s too late to keep trying. Just don’t forget that it takes time. Nico won’t get over his problems in a month and neither will you. It all takes time. Just like me and metal death traps known as elevators.” 

“No. Cars are metal death traps. Around 30,000 people die per year. They’re death traps.” 

“Out of the 300 million people in the US. What’s that? 1 in 10,000? And aren’t most deadly crashes at night? Just don’t drive at night.” 

She...she made a point. A very good point. Huh. 

Will took a bite of his food. He was not entirely sure what it was, but it tasted good, so he didn’t really care. He trusted it enough to not kill him. 

“Will? You went quiet,” Valerie said tapping his shoulder. 

“For like a minute.” 

“Did I blow your mind?” She asked with a teasing smile. 

“Yes,” Will responded seriously. 

“I will take that as an accomplishment.” 

Will shook his head and took another bite. He didn’t want to think about this right now. He can think over this new information later when he’s alone and not sitting in Nico's kitchen with his best friend. 

“Are you going to stay for all of winter break?” Will asked changing the subject. 

Valerie paused for a second, but shook her head and answered without asking questions. “I’m leaving on Sunday. So I have three more days. Well, three and a half.” 

“Oh. My relatives are visiting for the weekend.” 

Will made a disgusted face, and Valerie laughed. 

“Do you not like them?” 

“No! Ugh. My Mom’s sister is fine. I like her. But my entire step family is annoying. Andy is normal enough, why isn’t his family?” 

“Normal isn’t fun.” 

“They’re bad weird not good weird.” 

Valerie patted his shoulder with mock comfort. “You’ll survive. It’s just two days.” 

“Counting my blessings.” 

Will’s phone buzzed in his pocket, so he pulled it out to check what it was. A message from his mom it seemed. 

 

**4:57**

**Will? Make sure to pick up potatoes on you way home**

**And apples**

**And two cans of condensed milk**

**I think that’s it**

 

Apples and potatoes were heavy. Damn it. 

The sound of the front door opening had Will turn away from his phone. Nico walked into the kitchen a few minutes later and looked at what they were eating before sighing and shaking his head. 

“Welcome home,” Valerie greeted. 

“No.” 

“Grumpy. What’s got you all annoyed.” 

“Tired.” 

Valerie frowned. “You hungry?” 

“No.” 

“Alright.” 

Valerie looked towards him concerned as he turned on the tap and grabbed a glass. 

“He’s probably just tired,” Valerie whispered. “He’s either super annoyed or super clingy. Depends on why he’s tired.” 

Will looked concerned before looking back at him phone. 

 

**4:59**

**And please come home soon**

**In case something goes wrong…**

 

“I think I’m going to go home,” Will announced as he stood up. Nico kept staring at the sink. Will walked over to him and gave him a one armed hug. He just continued staring at the water streaming down from the tap overflowing out of the cup. 

“Nico?” Will asked worriedly biting his lip. 

“I’m okay,” he whispered. “Stay safe. Text me when you get home.” 

Will didn’t want to leave him like this, but Valerie was here, so it wasn’t like he would be alone. And she would probably be better at it than he would anyways. It would be best if he left. 

“Alright. Take care yourself. I’ll see you later.” 

Nico nodded but didn’t turn away from the tap. Will frowned and stared for a few seconds before turning away. He stopped next to Valerie, and she smiled. 

“Give me your phone,” she whispered. 

Will handed it to her hesitantly, but she took it. 

She frowned. “Unlock it.” 

Will took it back and unlocked it before handing it back. She tapped a few things before giving it back a little later. 

Her screen lighted up and she typed a few things before his phone buzzed in his hand. 

“There. Now we have each others numbers. We’re friends now.” 

Will stared at the little cat emoji she sent and smiled. “Yeah.” 

“See you some point eventually hopefully.” 

Will nodded and sent her another smile before pocketing his phone and waving goodbye before walking to the entrance of the kitchen. He turned around and gave Nico another concerned look before sighing and walking to the front door. 

  
  


**6:18**

**I am home**

 

**6:24**

**Nico fell asleep**

 

**6:25**

**Valerie?**

 

**6:26**

**Yeah**

**Let me use my own phone**

**One sec**

  
  


**6:28**

**It is I**

 

**6:29**

**Hey**

**Is Nico alright?**

 

**6:30**

**I think**

**I decided to confront him after he kept staring at the running water fifteen minutes after you left**

**And he just sorta broke down**

**He’s alright though**

**Just talked about bad things at therapy and it ruined his mood**

 

**6:31**

**Oh…**

 

**6:32**

**Try to check up on him every thursday**

**He talked about his mom and Bianca today**

**He’ll probably not feel good after he talks about the other stuff either**

 

**6:33**

**I’ll make sure to do that**

 

**6:34**

**I’m going to go make some soup now**

**Since soup makes him feel better**

**I’ll talk to later**

 

**6:35**

**Alright**

**Bye!**

**Tell me if you need me**

**Or something**

 

**6:36**

**Will do Will**

**Ha**

 

**6:37**

**Very funny**

 

**6:38**

**I saw the opportunity and I took it**

**Bye for real this time**

 

**6:39**

**Bye**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this chapter took so long...and that it's shorter than usual...  
> I had midterms and two projects due, so I was really busy! I didn't really seem to have much inspiration for this chapter either, so I hope it turned out alright. I think it's okay. 
> 
> Next chapter will be a New Years chapter. I'm excited to write it! ^_^
> 
> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!  
> If you did please leave comments and or kudos!!!  
> Thank you to everyone who left a comments last chapter!!! I love reading them! <3  
> I hope you all have a great day/night wherever you are!


	18. Starlight

**12:07**

**Hey Will**

**Happy New Year’s Eve!**

 

**12:09**

**...Jason?**

**Happy new years eve**

**Is something wrong?**

 

**12:12**

**No**

**Nothing’s wrong**

**Are you busy today?**

 

**12:14**

**Not really**

**Excited to throw an apple out of my window at midnight**

 

**12:15**

**Why are you throwing an apple out of your window?**

 

**12:16**

**Don’t judge my family traditions**

 

**12:16**

**Fair**

**Anyways, if you’re not busy, come over to Nico’s house for the night**

 

**12:17**

**Why?**

 

**12:18**

**I went over yesterday and he was moping**

**So party**

 

**12:19**

**Are you sure that’s a good idea?**

 

**12:20**

**¯\\_(ツ)_/¯**

**He looked tired sad**

**He usually likes company when he’s tired sad**

 

**12:21**

**If you’re sure**

**He does seem tired over text**

 

**12:22**

**Yeah?**

**Hopefully this will cheer him up**

**Or at least get him out of his slump**

**Invite his other friends over**

**Not too many though**

 

**12:23**

**I’ll ask Lou and Cecil**

 

**12:24**

**The witch girl and the one always pulling pranks?**

 

**12:24**

**That’s them**

  
  


**Dr. Solace: we’re going to nico’s house today**

**Markofwitz: that’s random**

**MagicBlackstone: why?**

**Dr. Solace: because his cousin invited us over for new year’s eve**

**MagicBlackstone: his cousin? Not him**

**Dr. Solace: yes**

**Markofwitz: good enough for me**

**MagicBlackstone: sounds fun**

**MagicBlackstone: why not?**

  
  


Following Jason’s instructions, Will knocked on Nico’s door near 7:00. Nico opened the door with an orange in his hand and a confused expression on his face. 

“Hi?”

“Hey!” Will greeted back. 

“What bring you here? At night.” 

“Jason told me to.” 

That caused Nico to raise his eyebrows. “Why?” 

“It’s New Year’s Eve.” 

That answer didn’t seem to help Nico understand what was going anymore than before if his confused expression told Will anything. 

“It is,” Nico answered. 

Will shrugged with a nervous smile. Maybe Jason should have told Nico they were coming beforehand. Will wasn’t entirely sure how to explain anything.  

“Oh well,” Nico sighed. “It’s cold. Come inside.” 

He moved out of the doorway, and Will stepped inside. He was immediately assaulted with a sweet and tangy smell. 

“Did you bake something else?” Will asked as Nico closed the door. 

“I made orange and white chocolate muffins.” He holds up the orange in his hand. “And we now I am left with one orange.” 

“How many muffins did you make?” 

“Two dozen.” 

Oh. So that wasn’t too many. They probably just didn’t have that many oranges. Or maybe they did. Will didn’t know how to make orange muffins. He didn’t even know that orange muffins existed. But they smelled good. And if Nico made them, he could trust that they were probably good too. 

“You’ve been baking a lot recently,” Will commented. 

Not that Will could complain. That was just more for him. 

“It’s winter. It warms up the house. Can’t bake as much during summer. It gets too hot.” He paused and frowned.  “And Valerie ate everything I made last week.” 

Will laughed at that, and Nico flicked him before walking to the kitchen. Will followed behind him, and the smell became stronger the closer they got. When they got to the kitchen, Will could see two trays with orange colored muffins in them. 

“I just took them out of the oven. Don’t touch them unless you want to get burned.” 

Will most definitely did not want to get burned. He sat down on one of the stools but  didn’t make any movement to touch the muffins. He could wait. He was going to be here all night...according to Jason. 

“Where is everyone else?” Will asked. 

“Hazel’s at her friend’s house. Dad and Seph are at...something. I don’t know. I don’t get dragged to fancy parties anymore.” 

So he was alone. Will wasn’t sure why he didn’t like the sound of that. Sure, it didn’t sound like he was being left alone all night. Or maybe he was. He didn’t know. 

And Nico was fifteen and his house had good security. He could stay by himself for a few hours even if it was night. 

Maybe Will was more scared of what he could do to himself while he was alone. Jason did say that he didn’t seem to be feeling right. Well, he looked fine now, but…

Will felt the same way when he ditched class to go see him. 

It was stupid though. He should trust Nico to be alright if he was alone. There was no way that this was only the second time he was left by himself. It was only the second time he knew. And Nico was fine. He made muffins. 

“I…” Nico started, but he was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. “What?” 

Nico made his way to the front door. Will put his hand over the muffins. Oh yeah. They were still hot. And he should probably wash his hands. That sounded like a good idea. 

He got up from the stool and walked over to the kitchen sink. There was a green bar of soap sitting near it, and Will quickly washed his hands before drying them with the towel hanging underneath the sink. 

“Why?” Nico muttered as he walked back into the kitchen. 

Jason was walking behind him along with someone Will didn’t recognize. The other boy seemed to be holding three boxes of pizzas and...were those tacos in the containers. 

“It’s New Years Eve. We have to celebrate. I couldn’t leave you here to pout by yourself with just…” Jason looked at the tray, “muffins for company.” 

“Dad’s going to be angry when he gets home.” 

Jason waved him off and reached to poke a muffin. Nico swatted his hand away. 

“No he won’t,” Jason responded. “I asked him first.” 

Nico groaned. 

The other boy seemed to take that as his que to put the food on the counter. “I bring pizza and tacos.” 

Nico groaned again and buried his face in his arms on the table. 

Jason laughed. “Cheer up Neeks. It’s not that bad. You’ll have fun. That’s the point.” 

“I hate you all.” 

Will walked up to them and patted Nico on the back. “It was Jason’s idea. I told him not to, but he was convincing.” 

“Not good enough.” 

Will laughed and pat Nico’s head. The other guy opened one of the containers and pulled out... yeah it was a taco. 

“Here Nicaroo. Tacos make everyone happy.” 

Nico looked up and took the taco from him. He started nibbling at it, and a small smile spread on his face.    
“Don’t call me that Leo.” 

Oh yeah Leo. Jason’s friend who made tacos and tried to prank people on Christmas. He looked like that kinda guy who would prank people on Christmas. A mischievous elf. He should of done it. 

The doorbell rang, and Nico huffed. “I’m not opening it.” 

Jason shrugged and made his way out of the kitchen. 

Leo moved around the table to the muffins. 

“Touch them, and I will chop your hand off,” Nico stated calmly before taking another bite of his taco. 

“Harsh,” Leo replied, but he didn’t make any move to touch them. He just looked at them before continuing to look around the kitchen. And then making his way to opening every single drawer and cupboard. 

Nico didn’t even bat an eye. He just continued munching on his taco. 

Jason came into the kitchen with some girl that Will did not recognize and Cecil. 

“Oooo muffins,” Cecil cheered as he walked up to them. 

“You know what? I don’t care anymore. Burn yourself. Burn your entire hand off. Stick you head in the oven. I don’t care,” Nico muttered.  

The girl came over and comfortingly pat Nico’s shoulder. “We’ll leave if it’s too much.” 

Nico shook his head.” It’s fine. Just annoyed that no one told me beforehand.” 

She hummed. “We’ll warn you next time.” 

“There’s a next time?” 

“Of course.” 

The girl turned towards him. “I’m Reyna.” 

“Will. Nice to meet you.” 

She stared at him for a second before smiling. “Likewise.” 

The doorbell rang again, and Jason left the kitchen before anyone could say anything. This time he came back with Lou Ellen and...another girl Will did not recognize. There was a pattern here. 

This time, the unknown girl was carrying a large stack of board games along with Jason who was carrying another pile. She clearly came prepared. 

“We now have less than five hours until New Years. Let’s do this,” the girl cheered setting the board games down on the floor. 

“Yeah!” Lou Ellen cheered. 

“I found some matches,” Leo announced holding up a matchbox. 

Why…

“If Leo burns down the house, it’s Jason’s fault,” Nico stated emotionlessly. 

Jason flinched and rushed over to Leo. 

That was odd. Did Leo burn things down often? 

“I’m not going to burn anyone this time!” Leo shouted moving away from Jason. 

“That’s what you said last time. Give me the stupid matches!” 

“Fight me Jason!” 

“Leo!” 

“Catch me first!” 

Leo scrambled out of the kitchen laughing as he waved the matches in the air. Jason grabbed a water bottle sitting on the counter and ran off after him. 

“You’re going to wish you stopped!” He shouted. 

Will watched them leave with his mouth slightly parted and eyes wide. The girl with the board games patted him on the shoulder while laughing. 

“It’s normal. Don’t worry.” 

“I don’t want to stand outside in the cold while the house burns down,” Nico complained. 

“The fire would make it less cold though,” Reyna pointed out. 

“Still cold.” 

“Ooo muffins,” Lou Ellen cheered. 

She reached out for it, and Nico didn’t even look towards her. Will opened his mouth to warn her, but he wasn’t fast enough. 

“Ow! Hot!” 

“They came out of the oven like ten minutes ago,” Will told her.  

So it probably hurt less than it would have ten minutes ago. 

“Ow.” 

Nico just smirked and finished his taco. 

  
  


Jason successfully wrangled Leo and took the matches back from him. Leo also came back soaking wet, so clearly the water bottle found some use. 

They all then proceeded to sit down on the floor in a circle and start with the mountain of board games the girl, Piper, brought.

They started with Taboo, but that quickly ended when Cecil found the buzzer sound fun and purposely said the words on the card just to make someone press it. Lou Ellen ended up flipping the board and throwing the buzzer at Cecil’s face. 

Next was Sorry. They made teams of two and played five rounds before they stopped. Piper and Reyna winning every round was not fun. And neither of them were sorry at all. 

Then they played 1313 Dead End Drive. Will had never heard of that game before, so he was just trying his best. Nico knew what he was doing though. They stopped after he won six times in a row. Him laughing every time he killed someone was kinda creepy. 

Then the childhood favorite Candyland. It was way more fun when they were kids. The appeal wore off after three rounds. 

Now, they were playing Pictionary. Nico wasn’t kidding when he said he couldn’t draw. But neither could anyone else other than Jason. That led to a crazy game. 

“It’s a camel!” Cecil screamed. 

Piper shook her head. 

“A boat,” Lou Ellen guessed.

Piper shook her head again. 

“Someone carrying a backpack!” Leo shouted. 

“Yes!” Piper cheered. 

“Woohoo! Leo is the best!” 

The two of them high fived and dissolved into laughter. 

Will smiled and looked towards the clock. 10:44. They had killed a lot of time playing board games. 

The muffins were most definitely cooled down by now. 

He turned towards Nico to ask about them, but he was met with the sight of Nico curled up on the floor with his eyes closed. Was he sleeping? 

Will gently shook him, but he got nothing. Sleeping. How long ago did he fall asleep? Will didn’t remember hearing much after the second round of pictionary. Did Nico even go during the third of fourth rounds? Will couldn’t remember. 

“Got it,” Leo announced. 

He picked up the sketchpad and pencil and began to draw...or at least attempt to. 

“A whale!” Cecil yelled. 

Lou Ellen stared at his in disbelief. “He drew one line.” 

“So?” 

Lou Ellen just shook her head. 

Leo continued drawing more lines and curves. Will looked closely and tried to figure out what it could be. The lines and curves kinda looked like…

“A swing set,” Will guessed.

Leo shook his head. 

Will frowned. This game would be so much easier if they could at least decently draw. 

“A donut,” Cecil said. 

“How does this look like a donut?” Leo asked. 

“That’s what I see.” 

“Well, you’re wrong.” 

“As long as you can back it up with proof you are right. And I see a circle within a bigger circle. Donut.” 

“It’s more of a circle within a wavy triangle.” 

“That’s a triangle?” Lou Ellen asked with a laugh. 

“A wavy triangle,” Piper repeated. 

“Is it a fidget spinner?” Jason asked with a disappointed voice. 

“Yes!” Leo cheered. “Someone appreciates my art.” 

“I don’t appreciate it.” 

“Rude.” 

Will laughed at that along with everyone else. Well, everyone except Nico. He was asleep. 

Will calmed himself down and looked at Leo’s drawing again. Now that he knew what it was, it did look kinda like a fidget spinner. Kinda. 

Jason took the pencil and sketchbook from Leo as Cecil and Piper continued laughing. Reyna shook her head, but there was a smile on her face. 

And then Will heard a sound that didn’t sound like a laugh. More like...a whimper. But where…

Will looked down at Nico’s sleeping form, and instead of seeing him curled up peacefully like before, his face was now all scrunched up and he curling up into himself even more. Another whimper escaped his mouth, and Will slid himself closer to him. 

Will gently shook him, but that seemed to have the opposite effect from what he wanted. Instead of waking up, he whined and one of his hands came flying in his direction. Will quickly moved out of the way and grabbed his hand. 

“Nico. Wake up,” he whispered. 

Nico struggled against his grip weakly, and a choked sob spilled from his throat. Will quickly let go, and Nico’s hand fell to the ground. Will shook him again. 

“Nico. Wake up.” 

Another sob. This wasn’t working. He needed to wake him up. Should he get a glass of water and pour it on him. No. That wouldn’t work. It would probably scare him. 

Shaking him wasn’t working. Maybe he needed to shake him more. Or maybe talk louder. He wasn’t talking very loudly. Maybe that would work. Maybe. Maybe. Something needed to work! 

“Nico! Wake up!” Will shouted shaking him more. 

That seemed to catch everyone’s else’s attention since Jason immediately rushed over to them and sat down in front of Will. 

Jason turned Nico over and laid him flat on his back. Nico writhed underneath him and managed to punch him in the shoulder hard enough for Jason to wince. 

“Leo. Get me a glass of water,” Jason commanded. 

Leo didn’t hesitate to run to the kitchen. Jason looked back at Nico and started to lightly shake him. 

“Come on Neeks. It’s not real. You’re safe,” He pleaded. 

Nico just whined again and shifted. Leo came back at that moment with a full glass of water. 

Will shook Nico again, but it didn’t get anything out of him. Jason dipped his fingers in the glass and stared splashing drops of water into Nico’s face. Nico murmured something but stayed fast asleep. Jason did it again, and Will began to shake him again. 

After two more splashes, Nico eyes snapped open, and he quickly stood up before Will or Jason had any idea what was going on. He ran out of the room, and Will immediately ran after him without thinking. 

Will caught up to Nico sitting in front of a toilet puking his guts out. Will could feel his heart practically breaking in half. Today was supposed to be fun and help him feel happier. It wasn’t supposed to involve him waking up from a nightmare and puking in the bathroom. 

Will took a deep breath and turned the light on. His heart was out of control. He needed it to slow down. He at least needed to be calm if he was going to try and comfort him. He couldn’t be panicking too.  

Will slowly walked into the bathroom and sat down a little distance away from Nico, so he wouldn’t feel crowded. Nico was no longer throwing up, but Will didn’t think his crying and struggling to breathe was any better. 

“Hey Nico,” Will called gently. “Can you hear me? Just nod if you can.” 

Nico nodded quickly before another sob leaked out, and he covered his mouth with his hand. 

“That’s good Neeks. Just focus on my voice. You’re safe.” 

He didn’t know what he was doing. He never knew what he was doing. Will should just call Jason and let him handle this. Jason would know what to do. He would know how to make Nico feel better. For all Will knew, he was just making everything worse. 

But he couldn’t leave Nico by himself. And he didn’t want to be away from him either. As much as it hurt to see him like this, as much as he knew he wasn’t equipped to handle this, he couldn’t bring himself to get up and leave. 

“Umm…” 

But Will really had no idea what he was doing. Was he supposed to tell a weird story again and see what would happen? Should he just keep talking? Should he just sit here quietly and wait for Nico to do something? 

Will should really read an article on how to help. 

“Hey Nico? You can still hear me, right?” 

Nico nodded slowly, and Will had to hold himself back from sighing in relief. As long as Nico could still hear him, Will at least had options. Will had no idea what to do other than talk, and if Nico couldn’t hear him…

But Nico’s breathing was becoming erratic, and it was even worse with the sobs that were mixed in. Will needed to do something about that. 

“Hey Neeks. Can you try breathing with me? I’ll count. Just breathe alone with it. It doesn’t have to be perfect when you start. Just try.” 

This had worked before when Will had first witnessed Nico having a panic attack and having no idea what to do. Apparently that one video he watched in Middle School seemed to be right. 

Will counted his breaths and mimicked deep breathing. Nico struggled along with him tears still pouring from his eyes. 

Soon Nico was breathing better. His breathes were still a little shaky, but at least he could properly breathe. And he didn’t seem to be crying anymore, so that was an added bonus. 

“You did great Neeks. Just keep focusing on breathing.” 

Nico’s breathing soon calmed down to normal and the two of them sat on the bathroom floor silently. 

“You feeling any better?” Will whispered breaking the silence. 

Nico nodded his head before flushing the toilet and shakily standing up. Will quickly got up and moved to make sure he wouldn’t fall, but Nico seemed to be alright and walked to the sink to wash his hands and mouth. Will turned around to look at him but didn’t make any more movements. 

Now what was he supposed to do? Tell a joke. Nico didn’t look like he was in the mood for jokes at all. Just silently wait for Nico to say something? But what if he never said anything? What if Nico was waiting for him to say something? 

“I want to go outside,” Nico mumbled. 

Or at least that’s what Will heard. But that couldn’t be right. It was cold, and Nico hated the cold. Not to mention it was close to midnight. Being outside would be dangerous along with it being freezing cold. 

“Outside? Are you sure?” Will confirmed. 

Nico nodded his head and closed the tap. “Balcony.” 

Well, that solved the danger problem. 

“Okay. We’ll grab our jackets and go.” 

Nico nodded and walked out of the bathroom towards the front door. They passed by the kitchen, and Will could see everyone else lazily eating muffins. Will waved towards them and showed a small smile before moving on. 

He grabbed his coat while Nico slipped on his, and Nico led the two of them upstairs towards the balcony. 

It wasn’t a large balcony like Will was expecting. It was about the width of maybe two hims and length of one him. It was painted white and there were rose and heart designs on the bars. Two blue chairs sat in the corner away from the door along with a small white table between them. 

Nico sat down in one of the chairs and looked up at the sky. Will followed and sat down in the other chair. They sat in silence. 

It was peaceful. Different from the atmosphere in the living room when they were going through board games. And the cool air felt surprisingly good. Will wasn’t a fan of the cold either. He didn’t complain about it as much, but he hated the cold. Summer would always be his favorite season. 

But sitting in a chair on Nico’s balcony on New Years Eve made him hate winter just a little less. 

“Those three stars right there are Orion’s belt,” Nico explains pointing at the sky. 

Will looked up at where he was pointing, but he couldn’t see any three stars in a row. 

“Where?” 

Nico pointed again and moved his fingers in a line. “Right there.” 

Will followed his finger and he soon found three stars in a row. “Found them.” 

Nico smiled. “Yeah? And the two stars on the two sides of this line are Betelgeuse and Rigel. They form the constellation Orion.” 

“He was an archer who got killed by some beast, yeah.” 

“Something like that.” Nico moved his finger over. “The constellation next to it is Taurus. The bull.” 

“Like the zodiac?” 

Nico nodded. “That has the star Aldebaran. And then we have Auriga with the bright star being Capella. He was a Charioteer. Then there are the Gemini twins with the stars Pollux and Castor. And then Canis Minor and Major.” 

“That’s the constellation with the Big Dipper, right?”

“No. That Ursa Major. It’s right there.” Nico said moving his finger over to a different part of the sky. And yeah. That was the Big Dipper. Will could clearly see that.

“The Big Dipper isn’t technically a constellation just a part of Ursa Major. But if people remember the Big Dipper more which one is really a constellation?”

“Whatever the big astronomy guys decide.” 

Nico smiled and covered his mouth as he snorted. Will took that as an accomplishment. 

“So Canis Major?” Will prompted. 

“Oh. Yeah. Canis Minor has Procyon and then there’s Canis Major—that one clearly looks like a dog— that has Sirius. Brightest Star in the Earth’s sky. And then you end up back at Orion. The Winter Circle... or Hexagon. Whatever.”

Will looks around at what Nico pointed at. He knew that he wouldn’t remember everything that he said, but it was nice to hear his voice. And now he could point them out to his mom and try to look cool. 

And Nico looked like he was feeling better. So bonus points all around. But then again. He wasn’t sure about that. 

“You feeling better?” Will asked. 

“Yeah,” Nico sighed. “It’s peaceful. Thanks for listening to me ramble. Sorry.” 

Will frowned. “I like listening to you ramble. You looked happy.” 

“Yeah. Thanks.” 

“No problem.” 

And then Will’s phone began to loudly start beeping and both of jumped in response. There goes being peaceful. 

Will quickly pulled out his phone to see why it was so loud. His phone was always on vibrate or silent. 

Oh. An alarm. It was midnight.

“Happy New Years Neeks,” Will whispered smiling. 

He turned towards him and Nico smiled back. “Happy New Year.” 

He turned back forward and covered up his mouth as he yawned. 

“Tired?” Will asked. 

Nico shrugged. “Where is everyone else going to sleep? Are they going home? How are they going home? Are you going home? I need to find the extra blankets and pillow.” He immediately got up and swayed before Will caught him. 

“I’ll figure all that out. You should go back to sleep.” 

“You’re a guest.” 

“You’re barely standing.” 

Nico scowled but didn’t argue. Will kept a hand around one of Nico’s wrists and guided him to where Will remembered Nico’s room was. He hoped he was right. 

Will slowly opened the door, and Nico didn’t stop him, so Will assumed he was right. Which he was. Hooray!

He turned the lights on and guided Nico to his bed. 

“You try to change into something comfy,” Will suggested. “I’ll go check on everyone else.” 

Nico nodded, and Will turned to go back downstairs. He looked in the living room only to find that no one was there and the board games were all gone. He went to the kitchen next to find it perfectly clean and organized with only a sheet of paper on the table. 

Will picked it up. 

 

_ We all cleaned up and went home. We didn’t want to stay for too long, and it got a little awkward afterwards...not in a bad way. Text me and tell me he’s okay.  _

_ Happy New Year _

_ -Jason  _

 

Will immediately pulled out his phone before he would forget. 

 

**12:21**

**Happy New Year**

**I’m about to try and get him to sleep**

**I think it’s a good thing you left**

**He was freaking out about blankets and pillows**

 

**12:21**

**Oh. That’s good.**

**He should get some more sleep**

**And yeah**

**That’s sounds like him**

**I was easier to go home**

**It’s not like any of us live further than twenty minutes away**

**And cecil and lou ellen went with Reyna**

 

**12:22**

**I was wondering how they disappeared**

**Wait**

**Are you texting while driving**

**Are you trying to die?**

 

**12:23**

**Leo’s driving**

**He’s a very good driver**

**Non sarcastically**

 

**12:23**

**Fair enough**

**Well, I don’t want to leave Nico by himself for too long**

**Drive safe**

**Good night**

 

**12:24**

**Good night Will**

**Thanks**

 

Will pocketed his phone and made his way upstairs back to Nico’s room. He was lying in his bed with the comforter pulled up to his chest. 

“They all went home,” Will stated walking closer to him. 

“They did?” Nico asked turning towards him.

“Yeah. They don’t live very far and Reyna gave Cecil and Lou a lift.” 

Nico smiled. “Reyna’s great.” 

“She seems nice. Scary but nice.” 

Will did not like the expression Reyna made when Cecil kept pushing the buzzer during Taboo. If Lou Ellen hadn’t thrown it at him, she would have probably done worse. 

“You ready to go to sleep?” Will asked. 

“Where are you sleeping?” 

“I can go to the guest room again.” 

“Do you need extra clothes? Or a toothbrush? Or something?” 

Will smiled but shook his head. “I think I’ll be fine.” 

“You sure? You’re wearing jeans. I might have something that’ll fit you.” 

Nico moved to get up, but Will lightly pushed him back down. 

“Where is it?” Will asked. 

Nico bit his lip and looked around his room. “Probably one of the drawers in the wheel thing in my closet. I keep stuff that’s too big for me there.” 

Wheel thing?

Will got up and opened his closet. And white movable drawer was sitting on the floor underneath his hanged clothes. Wheel thing. 

Will opened the bottom drawer and looked through it  until he pulled out a pair of sweatpants. Not quite his size, but they would do. 

“Found them,” Will called before he walked back over to Nico. 

“That’s good,” Nico yawned. 

Will chuckled. “I’ll go. Good night.” 

“Wait no!” 

Will quickly turned around to Nico’s panicked face morphing into embarrassment. 

“Yeah?” 

“I...I...uhh…” Nico stammered. 

Will walked back up to him and sat down on the edge of his bed. “Something wrong?” 

“No. I just…” Nico sighed. “Can you stay? Until I fall asleep.” 

That was it? Will really wished Nico didn’t feel bad asking that. 

“I’ll stay. That isn’t a problem at all. Do you want me to turn the lights off first?” 

Nico nodded, so Will got up and turned off the light before turning back to the bed. And wow. There were glow in the dark stars on the ceiling. That’s cool. 

“Stars,” Will commented. 

Nico smiled. “Aquarius,” he said pointing up at them. 

Like the zodiac sign? 

“Why Aquarius?” 

“Because it’s my zodiac, and I thought: why not?” 

That made sense. Wait. 

“Isn’t Aquarius like February?” 

“End of January too. My birthday is on January 28.”

That was less than a month away. At least Will was prepared now. He was going to get the ultimate gift. 

“The weirdest thing I find about Aquarius is that its element is air. It has Aqua in the name. It's the water bearer. Its element should be water not air,” Will ranted.  

Nico stared at him for a moment before bursting out laughing. “You’re right. I don’t know why.” 

Will looked back up at the green stars over him and traced the shape with his eyes. He looked back at Nico who was wiping tears from his eyes. 

It was a nice sight. This was all nice. Just sitting in Nico’s room looking at glow in the dark stars in his room and questioning element signs was nice. Nico was nice. 

Will wouldn’t mind staying like this forever. 

Forever. Huh? 

Will looked back at Nico who now had his eyes closed. Will pushed his stray bangs away from his face, and Will didn’t think he had ever seen anyone look as beautiful as Nico did with a small smile on his face and glow in the dark stars lighting up his face. 

Will leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to Nico’s forehead before...oh shit. Oh Shit. He just did that. Why did he do that? Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. Nico was going to kill him. Fuck. Why did he do that? 

Nico’s eyes quickly opened, and he looked towards him with an unreadable expression. 

“Sorry,” Will immediately squeaked. 

Nico stared at him for a second before grabbing his hand. “Nothing to be sorry for.” 

And then Will could feel his cheeks rise a million degrees in temperature because Nico quickly pressed a kiss to his wrist before smiling really cutely. 

“Good night Will.” 

“Good night Nico,” Will managed to force out with a normal voice. 

Nico let go of his hand and closed his eyes again with a big smile. 

Will turned back to the stars. He needed to calm down. 

Will decided to go to the guest room once he was sure Nico’s breathing had evened out. A small smile was still on his face, and he hoped that was a good sign. 

“Sweet dreams Neeks,” he mouthed. “Happy New Year.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh. School has been so busy. Sorry.   
> I'm planning to hopefully get another chapter out Thanksgiving weekend, but after that, I don't know. But then winter break starts mid-December, so hopefully more chapter during my month off. 
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Thank you for reading!   
> Please leave comments and/or kudos if you enjoyed!   
> I love reading comments! Thank you to all of you who left comments last chapter.   
> I hope you all have a great day/night wherever you are! :)


	19. A Whole Bunch of Misunderstandings

Nico groaned and rested his head on his desk taking his glasses off and putting them to the side. Will snickered and pat his head. 

“You can’t already be tired. The school day hasn’t even started,” Will teased. 

“Why does break have to end?” 

“It wouldn’t be a break if it lasted forever.” 

“Shut up.” 

The bell rang, and Nico rose his head off from the desk. Mr. Wilson wasn’t there, so the substitute greeted everyone and turned on a video for today’s lesson: the Legislative Branch of Government. Nico was able to concentrate for half an hour before he got bored and started doodling in his notebook instead of paying attention. All of the powerpoint slides were posted on Google Classroom anyway. 

It took about about ten minutes for Will to notice and try to get Nico’s attention back to the screen. Nico appeased him for about five minutes before going back to his cat drawing. His bad cat drawing, but a cat drawing nonetheless. WIll didn’t try to get him to pay attention again, so he either didn’t notice or he didn’t care. 

When the bell rang, Nico had learned nothing about Government, but he did have a cat drawing in his notebook. Maybe it would bring him good luck. 

Nico and Will packed up and then walked upstairs to their respective homerooms for study hall. Nico’s classroom came up first, so Nico waved him goodbye. Will opened his mouth like he wanted  to say something but instead shook his head and waved back. 

The classroom Nico was in was a chemistry classroom, so the desks were arranged in a U shape on the left side of the room while there were lab stations on the right. Nico sat down in his normal spot on the right side of the U. 

The teacher came in a little while after him and started setting up the projector to play the morning news. Ms. Jones was nice, and none of her students complained, so she was probably a good teacher too. Ms. Spangler seemed nice as. Chemistry class also started to finally make sense. So far at least. 

But it didn’t take a lot to beat Dr. Fig.

The bell rang and the selected song of the day started playing with a countdown on screen for when the morning news would begin. One group in the corner started to sing along, but Nico had no idea what song it was. 

The news played and apparently someone had stolen a microwave from the cafeteria, so Ms. Lowen came on screen and started talking about how you shouldn’t steal. 

Nico didn’t know whether he should be impressed that someone managed to steal a microwave or if he should be concerned over how bad the security in this school was. 

Maybe a mixture of both. 

Other than that announcement, the first half of study hall went like it normally did. The teacher played some soft music and the twelve people in the room either did some work or talked to someone. 

Nico worked on his English homework. (Yes he did have two weeks to do it, but he didn’t want to. It wasn’t like he had anything else to do during Study Hall. And it was just some question from Catcher in the Rye. Chapter 12 and 13. That’s it. And he totally already read them. Yup.)

The second half was when everything went to shit. 

In their school, study hall was split into two sections. During the first half, everyone went to their respective homerooms and stayed there. Then the bell would ring for the second half. During this time, people could go to whichever teacher they needed to go to as long as they had a pass. They also had the option of staying in their homeroom class or go to the library. 

Nico didn’t have anywhere to go, so he stayed in his own homeroom and continued working on his English homework ignoring who was leaving and coming into the classroom. He should have probably been paying attention to who was coming near him though. 

Usually the only people who came in were Ms. Jones’ students who needed tutoring, and they used the empty two seats next to him. The people who sat there always went somewhere during the second half. So he continued focusing on his homework and let the people there do whatever they needed to do. Maybe if he was lucky and finished quickly he could eavesdrop on there conversation and learn something too. 

But of course with the luck Nico had, that wasn’t what happened. 

Instead, he was distracted from his homework because someone stopped behind him and peered over his shoulder. Nico slowed down, but he continued doing his work. When the person didn’t leave after a few seconds or give any hints towards why they were there, he turned his head slightly towards them. 

His eyes locked onto bright green ones with swirls of brown. Barely noticeable wrinkles were on his face. They were only noticeable because how close Nico's face was to his. 

Nico flinched back and they guy hummed. “I recognize you from somewhere.” 

Nico did too. He was that physics teacher from the classroom across the hall. What was his name? Shay? Shi? Whatever. Not important. What did he need from him? 

“Umm...I don’t know,” Nico answered. 

Nico was never in his class, and he never really did anything special. He probably just saw him walking through the halls...like most of the people in this classroom. 

“Do you need something from me?” Nico asked after the teacher didn’t respond for a few seconds. 

“I’m not sure.” 

Not sure? Nico sighed and turned back to his work. He didn’t have time to deal with a confused physics teacher who thought he recognized him. He needed to finish his homework. He had English next block...which was in twenty minutes. 

He still had two question, so if he didn’t get interrupted again he should be fine. 

Why didn’t he do it over break? He had time. He spent the entirety of one day questioning why Will kissed him on the forehead instead of doing homework only to decide that he was just being comforting. Why couldn’t he figure that out in five minutes? Hell, Will was in his house. He could of asked. 

But no. Nico was an idiot. He couldn’t just ask or decide anything in the span of five minutes. 

And he kissed Will’s wrist. What the fuck was he thinking when he did that? Nothing probably. 

Nico really hated sleepy Nico. Sleepy Nico was going to be the death of him. 

But Will didn’t hate him on New Years after they woke up, so it was fine. 

Everything was fine. Maybe Will didn’t even remember. That would be good. 

And then Nico spent the entirety of Thursday trying to hide, so he didn’t have to see his therapist. Nico wasn’t good at many thing, but he was very good at pretending to be sick. 

But why didn’t he do it over the weekend. He had two days? He didn’t even remember doing anything other than lie in his bed with his earbuds in. 

Why did he always procrastinate? Stupid Nico. Stupid. 

Alright. There was that question finished. Just one more. And he still had a good amount of time left. Everything would be fine. Of course it would be fine. He knew he could finish this much work in this amount of time. (heh...) 

Nico read over the last question. He just needed to write a paragraph that summarized the two chapters. Easy. He read the sparknotes. 

“I remember!” Nico heard really loudly next to him. 

Everyone in the classroom seemed to have heard the shout as well since they all turned around to look behind him at...the physics teacher? Why was he still here? And why didn’t anyone ask him what he was doing here? A random teacher just standing around in someone else’s classroom was pretty weird. 

“Remember what?” Ms. Jones asked with a usual smile. 

“Where I recognize him from,” the teacher answered pointing at Nico. 

Nico held back a groan. Why couldn't people just leave him alone? Why couldn't this teacher specifically leave him alone right now? Did he want him to fail? Well, one unfinished English assignment wouldn't fail him, but it would still give him anxiety and that was bad too. 

Maybe Nico could just ignore him. But everyone was staring at him now, and that would be really rude. 

“The picture that was sent out. This is him,” the physics teacher announced. 

Picture? What pic…

Oh. Oh fuck. That picture.

Oh no. No. No. No. No!

Nico had forgotten about that picture. How did he forget? How? 

Nico bit his lip and did his best to remain calm. Or at least look calm. The more normal he acted, the less of an issue this would be. He just needed to stay calm. 

“What picture?” He asked slowly keeping his voice steady. 

The physics teacher opened his mouth, but Ms. Jones harshly cut him off. “Nothing important. Especially nothing we need to talk about right now.” She paused and gave the physics teacher a harsh glare. “Now, is there anything you need Mr. Shu?” 

“Five 250 milliliter beakers.” 

“They're in the back where they always are,” Ms. Jones answered before turning back to her laptop.

The other students stared a bit longer before turning back to whatever they were doing as well. Nico could feel his face heat up and he quickly turned back to his homework to hide it. 

He started writing, but after a few words, his brain stopped working. His entire body was heating up, and why was the room getting smaller?

He needed to get out of here.

There were only ten minutes left until this block ended. He could survive ten minutes. He just needed to focus on breathing. He needed to distract himself from what happened. It wasn't anything that bad either. 

No need to panic. 

Ten minutes. 

He could try getting something down for the question. Three sentences counted as a paragraph. Or at least it did in elementary school. Oh well. 

Three minutes. 

There. Done. Good enough. 

He should start packing up.

Two minutes. 

Other people started packing up too. 

This was fine. He felt fine too. Calm. 

One minute. 

People started to stand up and wait by the door. Ms. Jones called out to her chemistry students to study for their test. 

One student opened the door. Mr. Shu must have closed it on his way out. 

_ Briiiiiing!  _

The bell! Freedom! 

Nico blended in with the rest of the students and made his way to his English classroom a hallway down. Usually, he used the long way, so he wouldn't be the first one there, but being alone seemed great right now. 

He looked into the empty classroom and walked over to his usual seat. He now had like a minute to be alone. 

He reached into his pocket for his phone only to find it empty. Did he put it in his backpack? He quickly opened the usual pocket he put his phone in and all he found were pencils and pens. 

He left it in Ms. Jones’ room didn’t he? Of course he did. Great. 

Nico sighed and grabbed his backpack before leaving the room and rushing back over to the science hall. There goes his one minute of alone time. 

He quietly slipped in and walked over to his seat. There were only two other students and Ms. Jones who was looking through the closet for something, so no one looked towards him when he walked over to where he sat and grabbed the phone, his phone, from the table. 

He slipped it in his hoodie’s pocket and left the classroom. He definitely wouldn’t be one of the first to get to English this time, but he wouldn’t be late. Not by a long shot. Or at least he wouldn’t be if someone didn’t stop him in the hall. 

“Hello again,” Mr. Shu greeted. 

“Hello,” Nico mumbled continuing to walk. 

“So I had a question,” Mr. Shu said. 

Nico considered ignoring him, but he didn’t want to seem to rude. He should just tell him that he was going to be late to class, and he needed to hurry. 

Nico stopped and turned towards Mr. Shu, but before he could say anything, Mr. Shu continued. 

“So how much did you charge?” 

Nico felt like a large bolt of electricity just struck him. “What?” 

A snicker slipped from the teacher’s mouth, and Nico clenched his fist. “I mean, let’s say I wanted a blowjob. How much would that cost?” 

One second Nico could feel himself glaring up at the teacher, and in the next moment, he was glaring down at the teacher. Other people in the hallway stopped and stared at them, but Nico continued to glower at the man on the floor. 

“I don’t know. I never asked,” Nico hissed. 

“What is happening!” Ms. Jones yelled as she walked up to them. 

Nico backed a step away from Mr. Shu but continued glaring in this direction. Mr. Shu made no move to get up. 

“He punched Mr. Shu!” One student in the hallway shouted.

Is that what happened? He punched him. That made sense. His knuckle kinda ached, and Mr. Shu was cradling his jaw. 

“Nico?” Ms. Jones asked turning towards his direction. 

Nico turned towards her, and he felt like his rage dissipated. No. That wasn’t right. He still felt angry, but not as much. He still very much wanted to punch something...someone, but now he was finally actually processing what happened. 

He punched a teacher. He attacked a teacher. He was so screwed. 

“Nico? What happened?” Ms. Jones asked with a kind tone still filled with power. 

“I...I punched him,” Nico mumbled rubbing his aching knuckles with his other hand. 

Ms. Jones nodded. “You want to tell me why?” 

“He asked me how much a blowjob costs,” Nico grumbled. 

Ms. Jones raised an eyebrow and took a step forward. “I couldn’t hear you,” Ms. Jones prompted gently. 

“He asked me how much a blowjob costs,” Nico answered in a more even tone. 

He turned his gaze away from her and looked into the hallway. Some students were walking past with curious expression while other stayed behind and watched what would unfold. Some of them had their phones out. He could even see the weird cake guy who he kicked a while ago in the crowd covering his mouth like he was trying not to laugh. Fuck him. 

Ms. Jones sighed next to him and looked towards Mr. Shu. “Get up. He only punched you once. We’re going to see Ms. Lowen.” 

He should have just walked away. 

  
  


Ms. Jones went with Mr. Shu into Ms. Lowen’s office first while Nico waited outside on one of the chairs. Another girl was there too. 

“What are you here for?” She asked. 

“I punched Mr. Shu in the face.” 

The girl burst out laughing—her black hair flying into her face. “He probably deserved it. I have him, and he always gives me the creeps. He’s a good teacher, and he seems nice, but he just has a weird aura.” 

Nico shrugged. He punched a teacher in the face. He was so fucked. He was going to get expelled. Or get arrested. He might go to jail. 

He was so fucked. 

“What are you here for?” Nico asked trying to distant himself. 

“I did the standard bucket of water prank on Ms. Todd. Only the bucket was filled with eggs instead of water. Totally worth a week of detention.” 

A small smile spread across Nico’s face. He had no idea who Ms. Todd was, but it was funny to imagine it happening to Dr. Fig. 

“You and Cecil would get along,” Nico replied. 

The girl smiled. “Markowitz. He’s good, but he’ll never get to my level.” She crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. “How long do you think you’re going to take?” 

Nico frowned. “I don’t know.” 

“Well, take as long as possible. Ms. Todd is probably still angry, and I do not want to deal with that today.” 

Nico shrugged and looked towards the closed door in front of him. 

His dad was going to be so mad. Will was going to be so disappointed. He wasn’t supposed to cause trouble. He was supposed to get through the school year without anything big happening, but no. 

His phone vibrated in his pocket, and Nico pulled it out with a sigh. The notification said it was from Will. 

 

**11:32**

**Why did you punch Mr. Shu?**

**Are you okay?**

 

**11:33**

**I’m fine**

**Sorry**

 

Nico turned his phone on silent and put it back in his pocket with a sigh. 

After a few minutes, Mr. Shu and Ms. Jones walked out of the room. 

Ms. Jones turned towards the girl. “She wants to see you first.” 

She groaned and got up from her seat. “I’ll see you around.” 

Nico nodded, and she walked into the office, closing the door behind her. Mr. Shu glared at him before walking away. Ms. Jones came over and sat down next to him in the now empty seat.

“You okay?” She asked gently. 

He nodded his head. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. 

“It’s understandable that you were angry, but you can’t just punch people because you’re mad.” 

“I know. I don’t know what happened. I just…” 

Blew up? That didn’t do much towards helping him. 

Ms. Jones sighed. “Don’t be so worried. You look like you think you’re going to get arrested. You just punched him. He’ll have a bruise for a few days. He probably deserves it. He doesn’t know how to shut his mouth. Maybe now he’ll think before opening it.” 

Nico’s mouth twitched. There goes one worry. Hopefully.

Ms. Jones smiled. “I need to get back to my class. But come see me if you need anything okay. I’ll see you.” 

If he doesn’t get expelled. 

“Have a good day.” 

Ms. Jones got up and walked out of the room. Nico looked back at the closed door. How long did it take to tell someone not to make eggs fall on their teacher? 

Nico pulled his phone back out and there were ten text messages. 

He opened up Cecil’s first. 

 

**11:47**

**Thank you for your service**

 

Then Lou Ellen’s. 

 

**11:45**

**You totally decked him**

**[video]**

**Hell yeah**

 

The last few were from Will. Nico hesitated before opening them. 

 

**11:34**

**Are you sure?**

**WHAT HAPPENED???**

**You don’t just randomly punch people**

**11:46**

**Nico?**

**Where are you?**

**You are okay, right? Right?**

 

Nico frowned at the message. He didn’t really want to respond, but he didn’t want to worry Will more than he needed to be. They already this talk. 

 

**11:49**

**I’m okay Will**

**Don’t worry**

**He just said something that pissed me off so I punched him without thinking**

**I’m sorry**

**I’m waiting for Ms. Lowen now**

 

**11:50**

**Okay**

**As long as you’re alright**

**Tell me if you need anything**

**Even if all you need is someone to be there**

 

**11:51**

**Yeah**

**Thanks**

 

Nico put his phone back in his pocket and curled up in his chair. He both wanted the girl to hurry up and for her to never leave. After a few minutes, she walked out of the room with a smile on her face. 

“I only got a week of detention if I agree to write an apology letter. Lucky me,” she cheered. 

“Congrats,” he said getting up. 

“Good luck to you too. See you as long as Ms. Todd doesn’t kill me before then.” She saluted and then made her way out of the room with a skip in her step. 

Interesting person. 

Nico looked towards the now open doorway, and took in a deep breathe. He should hurry up and get in there before Ms. Lowen gets even more annoyed. 

He marched towards the door and closed it behind him before walking over and sitting down in the chair in front of Ms. Lowen’s desk like he did the last time. 

“Why Nico?” She groaned. 

He winced. “I got angry.” 

“Because?” 

Did Ms. Jones and Mr. Shu not already explain when they were here? 

“He asked me how much a blowjob cost. I got mad and punched him.” He paused before adding, “He recognized me from the picture.” 

Ms. Lowen sighed. “That’s what Mr. Shu and Ms. Jones already said.” She picked up a pencil from her desk. “According to Shu it was just supposed to be a joke. Not a good joke but a joke. Not an appropriate joke at all. But you can’t just punch people, especially teachers, just because they said something that made you mad. Octavian touched you first, and you only kicked his leg, so I let it slide, but you can’t just punch people.” 

Nico wrapped his arms around himself. “Sorry.” 

Ms. Lowen started slowly tapping her pencil on the desk. “I could suspend you.” 

Nico flinched and didn’t respond. He didn’t have anything to say. 

“But I won’t,” she continued, and Nico could feel himself relax. “But you do have to write Mr. Shu an apology letter by tomorrow and give it to him yourself. And I’m giving you two weeks of detention after school.” She paused and in a much softer tone continued. “And if something like this happens next time, just walk away and send me an email. I’ll deal with it.” 

Nico nodded his head quickly. That wasn’t too bad. 

“And I won't call your dad if you agree to tell him yourself.” 

Nico would have probably preferred Ms. Lowen telling him, but he didn't want to say that and accidentally get in more trouble, so he just nodded his head. 

Ms. Lowen sighed and leaned back in her chair. “Good. Now, did anything else happen? Did anyone else mention the photo?” 

“No. I almost forgot about it until Mr. Shu said something.” 

Ms. Lowen hummed. “Alright. Well, tell me if anything happens. No more attacking people.” 

“Yes ma'am.” 

“You can go then. Detention starts tomorrow. I'll send you an email once I fill out papers. Thanks for that.” 

Nico nervously laughed. “Sorry.” 

She smiled. “Just go to class. Or lunch. Wherever you need to go.” 

Nico got up from the chair and headed towards the door. “Thank you.” 

Ms. Lowen waved her hand, and Nico opened it and stepped out closing the door behind him. He let out a breath before continuing his trek to his English classroom. 

  
  


The rest of the school day was...awkward. Nico usually didn't really get people's attention. He more so faded into the background and people had to look for him to notice if he was there. 

But apparently, news that he decked a physics teacher spread fast and now everyone knew. Which was just great. Nico  _ loved _ attention. Hahaha. 

At least no one tried to come up and talk to him. He could count his blessings. 

But by the end of the school day, Nico felt drained. He even ended up burning what he was making during culinary. His teacher was not impressed. 

During the entire car ride home, Nico stayed mainly silent. He gave Jason some sort of response whenever he asked anything, but it clearly wasn't enough to convince Jason he was alright if his expression told him anything. 

But Jason only asked if he was alright once and took his tired response without argument. Once Nico was in his room, he tried to take a nap, but clearly his brain had other ideas, so once he heard Hazel come home, he forced himself up. He might as well try to be productive. 

His phone lighted up next to him on his night stand, and he picked it up. A message. Will. He should have told him what happened sooner. 

 

**4:12**

**You still okay?**

**What did Ms. Lowen say?**

 

**4:13**

**Just tired**

**I got two weeks of detention and I have to write an apology letter**

**At least I didn't get expelled**

 

**4:13**

**Fair**

**If the guy pissed you off enough to punch him he probably doesn't deserve an apology though**

 

**4:14**

**Whatever**

**It was just a joke according to him anyways**

**It's my fault**

 

**4:14**

**Still**

**I don't know what happened exactly but don't beat yourself up for it**

 

**4:15**

**Remember that picture?**

**He said he recognized me from it and then asked me how much i charge for a blowjob**

**And I blew up and punched him**

 

**4:17**

**He's a jerk**

**And it's not a funny joke**

**I want to punch him too**

 

**4:17**

**:)**

 

**4:18**

**I'll sneak you snacks for detention**

**The hour will fly by**

**Because your attention will be consumed by the snacks**

**The snackiest of snacks**

 

**4:18**

**Thanks Will**

 

**4:19**

**:D**

**My mom just came home, so bye for now**

**Tell me if you need anything**

 

Nico smiled down at his phone for a moment before getting off his bed and heading over to his desk. He might as well write this letter now. 

  
  


After five disaster letters that ended up sounding like entries to a sarcasm competition, Nico finished writing a good enough apology letter for Mr. Shu. He better appreciate it. 

Nico had Jules drop him off at school early, so he could give Mr. Shu the letter and be done with it as soon as possible. Then he could focus on other things like how you tell his dad that he punched a teacher in the face. He probably should have done that yesterday, but he didn't, so now it was today's Nico's problem. 

He made his way to Mr. Shu’s room and peaked inside. He was sitting at his desk with a stack of papers and one other student was in the room. Nico would have preferred if no one was there, but another side argued that maybe this was better. 

Nico knocked on the door, and Mr. Shu looked up at him. He waved his hand in a ‘come in’ motion, and Nico slowly pushed open the door. 

He walked up to Mr. Shu and held up his letter. “I'm sorry for punching you in the face. I wrote you an apology letter.” 

Nico could feel his face heating up, and a part of him began to wish that he just got suspended. 

Mr. Shu looked at him and then his gaze went down to the piece of paper in his hand. He took it and scanned it over before nodding. 

“Okay.” 

Okay? That's it? He doesn't get an apology too? Jerk. 

“Okay?” 

Mr. Shu nodded. “You can leave now.” 

“Umm...okay.” 

Nico stared at him for another second before turning and walking out the door. That was strange. He was expecting it to be a lot more climatic. 

  
  


Detention was fun. Will bought him an entire box of donut holes and Nico spent the hour eating the whole box and throwing a ball of paper back and forth between him and the girl from yesterday, Alice. 

And Will waited for him in the library. So when detention was over they met up near the front. Will took one look at the empty donut hole box and frowned. 

“I didn't wait an hour in the library for you. I waited to get the ones you didn't eat. But now there are none. Complete waste of time.” 

Nico snickered and threw the box into the trash can next to them. “Should have bought some for yourself. Or told me.” 

“Your my soulmate Nico. You should be able to, like, read my mind.” 

Nico froze for a second but shook his head. “I don't think that's how they work.” 

Will shrugged. “Maybe they do and no one has been able to access the true hidden feature yet. What if we're like the first?” Will stopped walking and put his index fingers to his temples. “What am I thinking Nico?” 

“Food.” 

Will eyes snapped open and he dramatically gasped. “You're right. We did it.” 

“No we didn't. You just make it really obvious when you're hungry.” 

“I am very hungry.” 

“Then you should have brought a lunch.” 

Nico pushed open the front door and the two of them walked through. Will pouted and crossed his arms in front of his chest. 

Nico covered his mouth to stop himself from laughing. Will had forgotten his lunch at home, and he refused to buy lunch from school because, “he wasn't that desperate”. Nico had offered him his sandwich, but he only took half after Nico wouldn't shut up. 

“Don't look so sad. You're not going to die,” Nico said between laughs. 

“How do you know? What if I do die?” 

“Then you'll just have to eat something.” 

“I'm in the mood for pizza.” Will announced biting his lip and turning his way. 

Pizza? There was a new pizza place that opened a block away from the school. That was pretty close to Will's house. 

“There's the new pizza place,” Nico suggested. “You could go there. Get yourself a whole pizza. Eat it all by yourself.” 

“An entire pizza is a lot.” 

“Take it home.” 

Will frowned, and Nico stopped walking. It didn't look like his dramatic frowns. Was Will actually upset? Did he say something wrong? 

“Cold pizza doesn't taste as good,” Will argued. 

“Heat it up in the microwave. Or the toaster oven.”

Will groaned. What did he say wrong this time? They were just talking about pizza. 

“You're so dense,” Will mumbled. “I'm asking you to come with me.” 

Oh. Then why didn't he just ask? Weirdo. 

“Oh. Okay. Don't have anything better to do.” 

Will smiled and a light blush spread on his face. “Really? Yay. Who's here to pick you up?” 

“Jules came. Jason has a lot of homework or something. He can drop us off and then pick us up later.” 

“Umm…” Will scratched the back of his neck nervously. “Can we walk instead?”

“Oh yeah sure.” 

Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to have Will sit in a car with Jules driving. He was a good driver, and he was safe, but Will probably wouldn’t be happy to be sitting in a car with an ex-street racer who went to jail after causing a mass car crash. Nico should entirely refrain from telling Will that just in case he ever needed to get drivern anywhere by Jules. 

“Let me just tell him,” Nico added. 

  
  


Jules didn’t show much emotion when Nico told him, but he never showed much emotion, so Nico didn’t think anything of it. He just threw his backpack in the backseat and waved towards him before going back to Will. The two of them walked to the pizza parlor with Will leading them. 

It was getting colder as the days went by, but it wasn’t too windy today, so the walk felt nice for the first ten minutes. Then Nico started getting cold and started mildly shivering. 

“Are we there yet?” Nico asked breaking the silence between them. 

“Almost. You can see the plaza from here,” Will said pointing in front of them. 

Nico looked up from the sidewalk and there most definitely was a plaza in the distance. Almost there. There bettercbe good heating in the restaurant.

“I didn’t think about how cold it was,” Will chuckled. “Probably should have. I guess my fear of cars outweighed my dislike for the cold.” 

“You’re working on it. One day you’ll hate the cold much more,” Nico reassured. 

“Maybe.” Will frowned before changing it into a smile. “The pizza should be warm though.” 

Nico looked him over quickly before looking back in front of him. If something was bothering him, Nico wasn’t going to force it out of him, and if nothing was wrong, then him pushing him would just ruin their day. 

“If I walked fifteen minutes in the cold, and all I get is cold pizza, I’m going to riot,” He responded. 

“Why would they serve cold pizza? Do they bake it and then flash freeze it before serving?” 

“Yes.”

“They’re not going to be in business for long then.” 

Nico shrugged. “Or they just serve really good cold pizza.” 

“They didn't advertise it then. Looked like normal pizza in the ads...oh here it is.” 

Will stopped walking and pointed to the building to their right. It was a small white and red building with windows stretching across most of the front. The occasional sign or ad was on them, but most of them showed the inside of the small shop. 

Will pulled open the door, and Nico followed him inside. They were immediately assaulted with warm air and the smell of spices. 

“Doesn't feel like to they serve cold pizza,” Will commented. 

Nico smiled and pulled Will by the arm towards the register. 

“What do you want?” Nico asked. 

“You sound happy,” Will observed squinting up at the menu on the screens. 

Nico did feel happy. He felt much less stressed or upset than he had yesterday or even this morning. The sense of dread accompanying him any time he thought of telling his dad what happened was no longer there. He felt lighter. 

And hungry. And the shop smelled good. 

Pizza was magical. 

“Pizza. I'm hungry. Hurry and pick something.”

“I thought I was the one who was hungry,” Will mumbled. 

“You ate half my sandwich.” 

Will grumbled something under his breath, but there was a smile on his face, so Nico didn’t ask him to repeat. 

Nico walked past him and just ordered them a cheese pizza. No one complained about plain cheese pizza. Well, Will complained that he didn’t wait for him, and that he wanted to pay, but he didn’t complain about the pizza. 

There weren't many people in the restaurant, so they easily found a table where they could sit. The man at the register said it would take about fifteen minutes for it to be ready. More waiting. 

“So what happened after Mr. Shu got your letter. You looked annoyed during PE,” Will asked. 

“He just took it and said okay,” Nico grumbled. 

Will frowned, and Nico grabbed one of the napkins from the table. 

“Okay?” Will asked. 

Nico tore a piece off of the napkin and set it on the table. “Yeah. Okay. I was expecting him to say something more. I wasn't expecting an apology or anything. Honestly, I was expecting him to be mad at me after he glared at me yesterday. But no. All I got was an okay.” 

Nico tore off pieces from the napkin and soon the napkin was now more torn up pieces than what he was holding in his hand. 

“That's anticlimactic,” Will commented. 

Nico nodded. “Exactly.” 

Nico looked down at the torn up pieces. It was anticlimactic. But why did his chest fill up with dread thinking about it. It was over. 

Or at least he hoped it was over. 

That was it. He didn't know.

Every staff member in his school had seen that picture. Why wouldn't another teacher mention it? And maybe next time it would be worse than a joke. 

And they didn't even know who sent the pictures out. There were dozens of people who could have taken it. 

But the worrying question wasn't who. It was why. Why would someone take the effort? Take the risk? 

“It doesn't make sense,” Nico blurted. 

Will's eyes filled with concern. “What doesn't make sense?” 

“Why someone would take the risk and effort to send that picture. I just...I have a bad feeling about this.” 

“They might just want to annoy you. Everyone doesn’t think everything over,” Will tried to reassure, but Nico could tell that even he didn’t believe what he was saying. But they could hope. 

“I think I would be more worried if people that stupid existed,” Nico tried to joke. 

“Hey! Stupid is very subjective.” 

A laugh escaped Nico's mouth and he quickly covered it with his hand. Will stared at him for a moment before he burst out laughing. Nico set his hand back down on his lap and smiled as a few more quiet laughs escaped. 

They calmed down when one of the workers called their number. 

Will immediately got up. “I’ll get it.” And then he quickly left. 

He must be really hungry. 

Will soon came back with the pizza and napkins. He set it down on the table and sat down as he opened the box. 

It most definitely wasn’t cold. Nico could feel the pizza’s heat from where he was sitting. 

Will grabbed a slice and the cheese stretched out, and he almost dropped it trying to disconnect it from the rest. 

Most definitely not cold. 

  
  


Nico and Will stayed in the pizza parlor eating pizza and talking about non important things like their favorite field trip in elementary school. (Will apparently really liked going to some cultural play thing in 3rd grade because there were dragons.) 

Around 5:00, Will's mom called, so they decided it would be best to leave. The pizza box was empty except for some stray crumbs after all. They didn't have much reason to be there any longer. 

So Nico called Jules and told him to come pick them up. It was dark out now, so they decided not to walk all the way back to Will's house. It was only a five minute drive away, so Will assured him that he would be find. 

Hopefully that was true. 

They threw away their pizza box and sat back down and waited for Jules to come pick them up. He said he was only ten minutes away. 

Will grabbed a pen and notebook from his backpack and drew a hangman game on it. 2 words. 5 letter each. 

“S,” Nico guessed

Will wrote the letter down in the box and drew a head. 

“E.”

Will wrote down one E in the second word. 

Nico continued to guess letters and soon he had a stick figure with only an arm missing. 

 

_I_ _A 

_ A _ E L

 

“P,” Nico randomly guessed giving up. 

Will wrote down the letter P as the first letter in the first word. 

Pivya. Pibga. 

Oh. 

“Z!” 

Pizza. Ha. 

Pizza what? Pizza...label? 

“B?” 

There was a B. But the first letter of the word. 

Bavel? Bamel? Bayel? 

A text sounded on his phone. Jules was here. 

Nico intensely stared back at the letters. 

Pizza…

“Pizza bagel!” 

Will cheered and wrote the G down. 

Victory!!!

“Do you think of anything other than food?” Nico asked with a laugh. 

Will scoffed, but there was a smile on his face as he packed up his stuff. “I think of a lot of things. I just thought of food because we are in a pizza parlor.” 

Nico hummed as he got up from his chair. Will followed him to the front door. 

“What do you think of then?” 

“Well,” Will started following him out of the shop, “I think of…” 

Jules was waiting right in front, and the two of them sat down in the back. Nico greeted him, and he nodded his head before starting his course towards Will's house. Nico had already sent him the address. 

“So?” Nico prompted. 

“I think of school,” Will replied smuggly. 

“So you think of school and food?” 

“And the curse that is the two things combined.” 

“You're still thinking of food.” 

The car left the plaza and turned onto the main road. Will looked away from the window towards him. 

“And I also think of my mom.” 

“And the food she makes?” 

Will humphed. “Well, I think of Cecil and his pranks. And Lou Ellen's magic tricks.” 

Nico though about it, but he couldn't think of any easy way to connect it to food. 

“Fair. That's not food. I hope.” 

Will smiled. “I also think about cars. And cool sciency stuff that I hear about. Oh. And I also think about my guitar. Not a daily thought, but it comes up.” 

“I haven't heard you play after that time in the music shop.” 

The day they had seen Mr. Henryson and Nico had a mental breakdown. And  _ then _ he proceeded to tell Will everything. Not the best day. 

Not the worst either though. 

“I'll play it for you again,” Will promised softly. 

“That would be nice.” 

The two of them dissolved into silence. Jules turned onto a residential street and Nico somewhat recognized it. They must be close to Will's house. 

“Also,” Will started, “I...I.”

He let out a breathe and Jules stopped the car in front of what Nico recognized as Will's house. A street lamp overhead shone on them and Nico could now see that Will's face was flushed pink. Probably from the cold. Weird. It was warm in the car. Was Will still cold? He should have said something. 

At least his house should be warm. 

Will took in a deep breath and turned towards Nico with an intense look. Will's face was even more pink if that was possible. Was he not cold but instead embarrassed? Of what? 

“I think of you!” Will blurted. 

Nico heard a snort from Jules. He continued to stare at Will expecting him to say something else, but nothing else came. Will just continued to stare at him like he was waiting for a response. 

Weird. Why would Will be embarrassed about saying that? 

“Yeah. Because I make good food. Doesn't count,” Nico responded with a teasing smile. 

“Huh?” 

Nico could see Jules set his forehead down on the steering wheel and tightly grip it with his hands. 

Did Nico misinterpret something? Was Will not making a joke about thinking about him because of food? 

“I...I…” Will sighed and shook his head. A smile came to his face. “Yeah. I really like your food. I guess it doesn't count.” 

So Nico didn't misinterpret. 

But, Will sounded strange. It wasn't obvious, but there was a hint of something in his voice. Disappointment? Over what? 

They continued to stare at each other until Will coughed and turned to open the door. He unfastened his seat belt and turned back towards him. 

“See you later Neeks. Sweet dreams!” 

Will then stepped out of the car and waved. 

“Good night Will!” Nico called. 

Will shut the door behind him, and Nico watched as he walked down his walkway and into his house. Once Will's front door closed, Jules lifted his head from the steering wheel and erupted with laughter. 

Nico stared in confusion as Jules wiped away tears from his eyes and continued laughing. Since when does Jules show this much emotion?

“Why are you laughing?!” 

Jules continued to laugh and Nico frowned. Was it because of what happened with Will? Did he really misinterpret something? 

Will was blushing so... something embarrassing. But he didn't saying anything embarrassing. Maybe he was going to say something but then backed out and said something else. Yeah! That has to be it! 

But why was Jules laughing because of that? 

“What was so funny?” Nico asked again once Jules had calmed down. 

Jules took in a deep breath and shook his head. “Maybe one day I'll tell you.” 

“What? Why not now? What was so funny?” 

Jules simply ignored him and started driving the car home. 

Weird. 

  
  


Nico lied in his bed and stared up at the glowing stars on his ceiling. He was tired. The past two days had been a lot. And now that he was alone and not caught up in yesterday's panic, he could actually think about what happened. 

Picture. Picture. Picture. 

It didn't make any sense. Was the person who sent the picture aiming for some teacher to comment on it? Is that why they sent it to the staff members? 

But what would be the point? Why would they want a teacher to mention it to him?

Or maybe they wanted something else? Some other reaction? But what? And how would they know if they got it? And why would this 'reaction’ be worth the risk of sending out the picture in the first place? 

What if Nico had agreed to an investigation? 

He groaned and covered his face with his pillow. There were too many questions and not enough answers. And Nico had no idea how to even try to get any of these answers. All he could do was wait and worry. 

This sucked. 

The sound of the door squeaking open prompted Nico to remove the pillow from his face and look towards the door. His father was standing there with a worried expression. 

“Is everything alright?” His dad asked. “I was heading to bed, and I heard you groan. A little early for you to actually be asleep, but I wanted to make sure everything is okay.” 

Was he that loud? 

Nico stared at his dad and sighed. He still hadn't told him what had happened. 

Well, now was a better time than ever. You got this Nico. 

“I'm fine,” Nico started, “but I...I wanted to talk to you about something.” 

Nico sat up in his bed, and his father walked over to him without turning on the light. Nico was grateful for that. 

His father sat down at the side of his bed and motioned for him to continue. 

Nico took in a deep breath. Alright Nico. Just say it. 

“I punched a teacher in the face and got two weeks of detention,” he explained quickly. 

Wonderful. Super blunt. You did a great job at trying to get your father not to hate you. Idiot. 

“What?” His father asked sounding more confused than angry. 

“I punched a teacher in the face and got detention,” Nico repeated much slower. 

His father stared at him for a few seconds before sighing. “And why did you punch a teacher in the face? I'm expecting you have a good reason for this.” 

Not angry yet. That was good. Not confused either though. Nico couldn't tell what his dad was feeling. 

Nico looked down at his lap. “I...umm...I was in study hall, and I was working on English homework. And Mr. Shu, the teacher, he came in and said the he recognized me from somewhere. But uhh...I ignored him. I mean, I thought he just recognized me from walking through the halls or something. But umm...he actually recognized me from the picture. I entirely forgot about it until he mentioned it. And then I was panicking and forgot my phone in study hall when I left. So I went to go get it, and he was there, and I was planning to ignore him, but he...he,” Nico took a deep breath, “he asked me how much ‘it cost’.”

Nico quickly looked up at his dad. His lips were pressed together and there was anger burning in his eyes. 

Nico quickly looked back down. 

“I'm sorry,” Nico whispered. “I know I should have walked away, but I just… I don't know. I'm sorry.” 

Nico tightly gripped his sheets and bit his lip. 

Nico expected his dad to be somewhat angry at him, but it didn't make this any better. 

His father set a hand on his shoulder, and Nico flinched from the contact. 

“I'm not angry at you Nico. I'm angry at that teacher. I probably would have done worse than punch him if I was there.” 

He wasn't angry at him? What? 

Nico looked up at him, and the angry look was gone and replaced with concern. 

“You're lucky you only got two weeks of detention from it though. You could have gotten expelled.”

“I know,” Nico mumbled looking back down at his lap. 

“Try to be careful,” his dad whispered. 

Nico nodded. 

His father sighed. “Are you… Are you feeling alright?” 

Nico looked back up. A part of him wanted to just say he was fine and be done with this conversation. But another part of him wanted to tell him everything he was thinking. 

He decided to go halfway. 

“I've just been thinking about the picture again. I'm just worried about why someone would send it. I mean, what if they're planning something? I don't know what but...” 

Okay that was a little more than halfway. Oh well. 

His father hummed. “Do you want to start an investigation on who sent that picture?” 

Nico shook his head. “No. Not… Not yet. But…” Nico paused. 

But what? What else did he have to say? 

He already told him what he was worried about. Worried. 

“I'm scared,” Nico admitted. “I'm scared they're planning something big and there's nothing I can do about it. I'm probably thinking too much into all of this but what if I'm not. What if… what if this is all part of some elaborate scheme?” 

And he was just playing into it. 

Or maybe it was nothing and Nico was just thinking too much. He didn't know. He didn't know, and he hated not knowing. 

Warm arms wrapped around him, and his father buried Nico's head into his chest. 

No one said anything. Nico simply wrapped his own arms around him while his dad hummed and rubbed his back. They stayed in that position for a few minutes before Nico's dad let go. 

“I can't make any promises, but I'm going to do anything I can so you don't get hurt again.” 

A small smile spread on Nico's face and he nodded. His dad smiled back. 

“Are you feeling better,” his dad asked. 

“Yeah. Still worried but better.” 

His father ruffled his hair. “I love you.” 

“i love you too,” Nico murmured. “Thanks.” 

His father patted him on the head. 

“Of course. I'm here whenever you need me.” His father gave a big grin. “Now, Jules told me that you and Will went to a pizza parlor today. Did you have fun?” 

Nico was thankful for the change in conversation. He didn't want this to be the last thing he talked about before trying to sleep. 

“Yeah. It was really good pizza. We should get some from there some time so everyone can try it.” 

Nico should have saved some for Jules. He had to make sure he did that the next time he went anywhere. 

“That good?” His father prompted. 

“Is was great. There was no much cheese. And I don't know what they did with the bread, but it wasn't normal pizza crust.” 

“Then we definitely have to get it sometime if you liked it that much. Maybe I can get Jules to pick some up sometime later this week for dinner.” 

Speaking of Jules, that reminded Nico of something. 

“After we dropped Will off Jules started laughing about something, but he wouldn't tell me what.” 

His father smirked and got up from the bed. “He did tell me about that.” 

“He did? Did he tell you why? Why was he laughing?” 

His father laughed and started walking to the door without answering.

“Dad?!” Nico whined.

His father shrugged. “Good night Nico. Try to get some sleep.” 

Nico pouted but nodded his head. His father smiled and closed the door behind him as he left. 

He was never going to know. 

Nico laid back down on his bed. A familiar tingling sensation started, and he stared at his arm until it stopped. 

Soulmark. 

Words. 

Will was nice. He had bright blue eyes that were becoming Nico's favorite color. He had a good smile and a good laugh, and he always did his best to make him smile. He told corny jokes and liked sweet things, and even though he couldn’t cook, he was picky. And he really liked the food Nico made. He wanted to be a doctor and help people, and he was afraid of cars, but he was working on it. 

And he was somehow Nico's soulmate. And he had seen Nico have multiple panic attacks, crying, and breakdown after a nightmare. He was also on the other side of Nico ignoring him or yelling at him to leave him alone. And he knew what had happened to him before they met. Maybe he didn't know everything, but he knew enough. 

And somehow, somehow, Will still spent time with him. No, today Will himself took time out of his day and asked Nico to spend time with him.

Will was somehow not yet tired to him. 

Nico sat up on his bed and grabbed his phone and glasses from his nightstand. He put on his glasses and turned on the flashlight before slowly unwrapping the bandages on his arm. Nico hesitated for a second before he shined the flashlight towards where his soulmark was. Will deserved this much. 

 

_ Stay sharp cadet!  _

 

A smile spread on his face as he imagined Will saying that. He wondered what situation had him say those words. He guess he could ask but…

Nico turned off the flashlight and instead opened up the memopad app. He wrote down the date and the words next to it. 

Maybe a lot of people had said that Will deserved better than him, and maybe he didn't deserve a soulmate. Maybe Will would get tired of him in a few months. And Nico still believed that he would. 

But Nico could still hope he wouldn't, right? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter was supposed to be out last week. Sorry. I was busier than I thought I would be and this chapter got longer than I thought it would be.   
> The next week is going to be crazy busy and then it's finals week. But after that, I should have time to write for the next month. I'll try my best! 
> 
> So a lot happened in this chapter. We bring the picture back (hope you guys remembered that) and Nico punched someone in the face. And Mr. Shu isn't an entirely bad or evil person either. He's not like Dr. Fig or at all as bad as Mr. Henryson. But he is an annoyance and doesn't know what is appropriate and what isn't. He doesn't know when to shut his mouth.   
> And we also get a pizza parlor (date?) And Will tells Nico he thinks about him and Jules breaks down laughing. Poor Will. (If anyone wants to draw that scene (or any scene from this fic) I would love you forever).   
> And then we get a cute scene between Nico and his dad. And Nico actually looks at his soulmark. (And like Will he started a log to record his soulmate's words) 
> 
> Lots of stuff in this chapter (And a few little things that will come into play later on) The picture is just the start. And the end of this mystery will/should lead to end of this fic. I hope you all stay for the ride! 
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed! Thank you for reading!   
> PLEASE leave comments and/or kudos if you did! I love reading comments!   
> Thank you to all of you who left comments last chapter!   
> I hope you all have a great day/night wherever you are! Happy December!


	20. Risk

Will could easily admit that he might have had the wrong idea, and that maybe it wasn’t just Nico being dense. After all, he knew he was trying to be as vague as possible in case he was wrong...which he probably was.

But whatever. That was over now. He could move on. What happened on New Years happened because Nico was tired. Really tired. It wasn’t anything more than that. He was sure of that now.

And maybe a little disappointed, but it was okay. It had only been a few months since they met. Will was totally fine.

And no he did not bury himself in studying road signs. Okay, maybe he did. But he didn’t do it because of that!

He just felt like he should hurry up and get the issue out of the way. It wasn’t like anyone really noticed, so it wasn’t that bad. And by the end of the next week he felt ready to take the test. The look on his mom’s face when he said he was ready made him wish he had told her sooner.

And that’s why he spent his Thursday afternoon at the DMV. That’s why he spent two and a half hours sitting in a chair at the DMV wondering why it took so long. At least Cecil was nice enough to send him jokes and funny pictures while he waited.

But finally he was called, or well, his number was called. So they went over to the window, and apparently, they had waited for nothing because you can’t take the test unless you have 500 pieces of identification.

His mom was not impressed and started arguing with the lady at the counter over why the ten pieces of identification weren't enough. Apparently, they needed his birth certificate or a passport too.

Which they had. Kinda. His mom lost his birth certificate...somehow. But the guy at the other desk said that if they filled out some form they could get digital confirmation no problem as long as they had the other ten pieces of identification. So it was fine.

But no. There were five states that didn’t send confirmations, and the state he was born in was one of them because of course it was.

So they went home, and his mom started to scrounge the entire house for his birth certificate in rage. And she found it in some packet of papers in one of her old school folders. She had no idea how it got there, but they found it, and that’s what mattered.

So they went back the next day and waited for another three hours to be called. And this time when they were called the dude actually accepted that he existed. Yay.

He was then told to sit down for another hour and wait to be called to take the test. The DMV really sucked. Will spent this time studying. He was not going to fail and then have to come back and wait this long again.

But he was finally called to take the test. And...it was really easy. So he passed! Yay!

And then he had to wait another half an hour for them to call him again to tell him that he passed and that his permit would come in the mail in the next week. Why couldn’t it just say that on the computer screen when he finished?

But he got takeout as a reward, so at least something good came out of it...other than the permit...

Three days later, a letter from the DMV came, and a permit with his name and picture was in it. He could legally drive a car now. Wow. Progress!

Now he just needed to actually sit in a car and try driving it...someday.

  


“I did it!” Will announced holding his permit in front of him with a smile.

He sat down in front of Nico as he looked up from his phone. His gaze shifted from Will to the card in his hand. He stared at it for a few seconds before a wide grin spread across his face.

“You got your permit!” Nico cheered.

“Yeah. Somehow. Now I just need to learn how to actually drive a car.”

“That’s future Will’s problem. Present Will should celebrate.”

Will turned the card over to face him. Getting his permit was an achievement. If someone had asked him three months ago, he would have gotten mad at them for suggesting it. But here he was with a permit in hand.

He should be proud of himself.

“I guess,” Will responded.

Nico nodded excitedly. Will laughed under his breath as he opened up his backpack to put his permit in his wallet. It looked like Nico was more excited about this than he was.

“My last day of detention is today, so I’ll make you a cake tomorrow. Or cookies. Whatever you want,” Nico promised.

“Shouldn't your last day of detention be tomorrow?” Will asked changing the subject.

But he was curious. Tomorrow marked two weeks. Not today.

“The email and paper I had to sign said today. So I guess I got nine days of detention assigned instead of ten.”

“That's strange. Ms. Lowen must like you.”

Nico shrugged. “I guess. Or she pities me. I don't really remember any teachers liking me a whole lot. Except Mr. Henryson. But that was different.”

Nico's expression morphed into a weird mixture of anger and sadness. Smadness.

Will was about to try and change the topic again when Nico shook his head and smiled.

“Don't try to change the topic. What do you want me to make?”

Wills plans at diverting from the topic had failed.

“You don’t have to.”

“I want to.”

Well, Will wasn’t going to argue with Nico about him making sweets more than that. Nico can make those whenever he wants, and Will will always happily eat them. And he most definitely wasn’t going to try and deprive himself of them when Nico was offering and not just suggesting. He wasn’t that stupid.

“Alright. Blueberry muffins then. I’m craving blueberry muffins, and I don’t know why.”

“Blueberry muffins it is then.”

The bell rang and Coach Hedge stood up on his chair. “Go change. Shoo. We only have seven more Gym classes and you know what that means.”

The class stared at him in confusion. “It means we have to start doing the physical testing that you all hate. And today we’re doing push ups and sit ups.”

Of course.

  


The rest of the school day went by without incident. In math, they learned how to divide polynomials, and in chemistry, they learned about molecular modeling.

The next day was the same with no major problems. Will was starting to get suspicious at this point. Nothing bad had happened at school for two weeks. No fights. Nothing big stolen. The new French teacher came in every class. Even the vending machines worked without fail.

It was too perfect.

Nico even brought in the blueberry muffins he promised before their next PE class. But Will wasn't going to complain about that.

But there was one thing that he was going to complain about, and that was the Pacer test. Coach Hedge really knew how to ruin a guy’s week. And they were only half way through the week!

And it sucked. It all sucked.

But at least Will had Nico's muffins to munch on afterwards.

“I hate the Pacer,” Will complained.

“I know Will. This is the third time you've said it since we left the gym,” Nico responded.

“And I will make it a fourth!”

“It's not that bad. You don't have to get to 80 or something. You just have to show that you haven't gotten worse since the first time you did it at the beginning of the year. So of you got 20 get 21. Manipulate towards your favor.”

Will thought that over. “I think I did worse.”

“You failed PE. Wow.”

Will frowned and stared down at his muffins. “Shut up. I did not fail PE.”

The bell rang, and the teacher immediately put the warm up questions on the projector. The teacher told them to start and then left the room.

Will wrote down the first problem and stared at it. Then he wrote down the second and the third and fourth. And stared.

“You don't have detention today,” Will started. “Are you going to come to the ice cream parlor?”

“Hmm?” Nico answered without looking up from his notebook. “Oh. No. I promised Leo that I would help him make a cake for his Mom's birthday.”

“Oh. That sounds fun.”

“I guess. Better than sitting in a room and doing nothing for sure.”

Will looked back down at the problems written in his notebook and wrote down some random numbers.

“Did Mr. Shu say anything?” Will asked.

It might be a mixture of distracting himself and his general curiosity, but he was worried about Mr. Shu.

“Haven't seen him. It was probably a one off thing.”

Nico stopped writing and frowned. Will turned towards him and flashed a look of concern.

“It feels wrong though,” Nico whispered.

Will pursed his lips. “Wrong how?”

“Like...like.” Nico paused. “Nevermind.”

Nico glared down at his notebook. Will opened his mouth to try and get Nico to continue talking, but Nico sighed and turned towards his desk before he could.

“Do you need help?” Nico asked taping Will’s notebook.

Will gave Nico another once-over before giving in and moving on.

  


Will put a spoonful on ice cream in his mouth as he stared down at the photographs Cecil had spread on the table.

“You think these are good?” Cecil asked.

Will looked at them, and he was awestruck. Somehow not only was Cecil able to capture everything from the perfect angle, but Will could clearly see what story Cecil was trying to tell through them.

The prompt was to pick a poem that the writer Robert Browning had written and tell that story through the use of only twenty pictures.

Will had never read the poem, but the pictures were telling him the story of some girl who devastated after her soulmate had cheated on her. She then proceeded to try and make a poison to kill the other girl. However, the power of having the ability to end someone’s life with so much ease made her crazy and her fantasies on murdering the girl became more violent and brutal.

“I think it's amazing,” Will complimented.

“I agree. These are great Cecil and I'm sure whoever is judging will think so too!” Lou Ellen added.

“Really?”

Lou Ellen lightly punched him on the shoulder. “Of course. These are great. I'm still in shock over just how great they are but come back tomorrow, and I'll give you an essay.”

Cecil laughed and started to gather up his photos. “Thanks. Now since I have made sure, I can blow away the competition!”

He placed them all in an envelope and sealed them. “I'm going to go mail this off before I lose nerve...I mean, forget.”

Lou Ellen giggled and shooed him off. “Go! Be great!”

Cecil saluted and ran out of the ice cream shop.

“And our trio’s down to two,” Lou Ellen sang.

Will snickered and shoved more ice cream into his mouth.

“So what's up with you?” Lou Ellen asked. “Anything cool happen other than getting your driver's permit?”

Will tapped his spoon to his lip and looked like he was thinking it over. There wasn't anything he actually had to tell. Well, there was one thing, but…

“Come on Will! Anything? I don't want to go home yet.”

Will looked down at his watermelon ice cream.

“Well, I think I have a crush on Nico.”

Lou Ellen stared at him for a second before her lips turned upwards into a huge grin.

“That's great! Did you tell him?”

Will cringed at the memory. “I tried.”

Lou Ellen's grin turned into a confused frown. “Tried how?”

Will recounted the story to Lou Ellen while she quietly listened and finished up her ice cream. Once Will was finished, she burst into laughter.

Will stared at her with a pout as he played with his melted ice cream.

Once Lou Ellen controlled her laughter she took in a deep breath and shook her head. “I think you have to be more clear Will.”

Will glared at her. “Thank you Ms. Obvious. I realize that now.”

“Your welcome.” Her grin slid off her face and she gave him a serious look. “But really. Communication is key. Misunderstandings and hiding things are what lead to the most arguments.”

She picked up her spoon and started pushing around the few drops of melted ice cream in her cup.

Will looked down at his own. Lou Ellen was right. Communication. Scientists say that it's one of the reasons why soulmarks are the way they are. It gives people an opportunity to construct an image of the person or gain more insight on their soulmate without a conversation happening. An easy way to lead into one though.

“How did you figure out you had a crush?” Lou Ellen asked looking up at him.

Will thought back to New Year's and the days that followed.

“Well, I think I first started considering it on New Year's when I had a really strong urge to kiss him because of how pretty he looked. And then proceeded to kiss him on the forehead.”

Lou Ellen snorted so loud Drew turned towards them with concern. “I think that's a pretty good indication. If you want to kiss them, then you might want to consider that your relationship is not entirely platonic.”

Will huffed. “Fair.”

“Are you going to try telling him again?”

Will shrugged. “I don't think I should.”

Lou Ellen stopped playing with her utensils and creased her eyebrows. “Why not?”

“I don't think he'll take it well. He...I should wait until some more time has passed and let the two of us get more comfortable around each other. I’m not even sure of it is a crush. I should wait until I'm sure.”

Lou Ellen shook her head. “Will. If you never take a risk, if you always worry about what could go wrong, you're never going to get anywhere.”

Will sighed. “I know, but there are some things you shouldn't take risks in. My relationship with my soulmate should be one of them.”

“Or maybe you being terrified of taking risks is what will destroy any relationship that could exist.

“Life is full of the unknown. You can't navigate life knowing everything that will happen in the future. You can guess, you can plan, and you can imagine, but you can't know.”

Lou Ellen got up from her seat. “There's nothing wrong with being afraid, but you shouldn't knock things out that could make you happy just because there's a chance things could go wrong. Don't be stupid, but don't avoid everything.”

Lou Ellen pushed her chair back in and gave him a hug. “I'm going to head home. I'll see you later Will. Good luck.”

Will stared down at his empty ice cream cup as Lou Ellen made her way out the door.

  


What did she know? Will took risks. He ditched French class just to go see Nico and make sure he was alright like a month ago. That was a huge risk. He could have gotten in huge trouble if he was caught.

He didn't want to tell Nico he had a crush on him. That didn't just stem from the fear of taking risks. It stemmed from a lot of things. Nico wasn't ready yet. He was still trying to get his bearings and move on from a traumatic incident and slowly starting to trust him. If Will told Nico now, he would probably just run away and avoid Will for the rest of eternity.

And Will definitely didn't want that.

So maybe Will wanted to tell Nico. And maybe Will wanted to do more romancy things like kissing and holding hands. But Will was fine with waiting for Nico to be ready.

And Will likes how things were. He got to hug Nico a lot and sometimes Nico liked to be clingy. And they were friends. Good friends. Will was happy with how things were.

And so Will was not going to bluntly tell Nico yet. And it wasn't because Will was afraid of taking risks.

  


Nico sat in his usual seat next to Will the next day in Government class and set a piece of paper down between them.

“I made a list,” Nico explained.

Except it wasn't much of an explanation.

“For?”

“Of all the things I know in terms of the picture and who sent it and why.”

Will looked back down at the list written in Nico's neat handwriting. How in the world was his handwriting so neat and his drawing skills so bad?

 

_What I know:_

  1. _The picture is from 'The Incident'_
  2. _So it has to be someone from then_
  3. _Sent to all staff members in school_
  4. _They have to know what school I go to_
  5. _Mr. Henryson is the only one I know who's in the area_
  6. _Mr. Shu mentioned the picture_
  7. _Coincidence or not?_
  8. _Picture was sent from a public library_
  9. _You need to have a library card from the county to use library computers (or at least I'm pretty sure you do)_
  10. _So the person who sent the picture has to live here_



 

“So Mr. Henryson did it,” Will summarized.

“He's the only suspect as of now, but it could be anyone. Mr. Henryson might just be a coincidence. It seems too obvious. Or it's not a coincidence and it really is just that obvious.”

“Then tell the police to catch Mr. Henryson and ask him.”

Nico shook his head. “No evidence and you can't do anything. All I have are theories. Weak theories. We don't know everyone who lives here nor do I remember everyone from...you know.”

Will looked over the note sheet again. “Well, I guess you would start with giving Mr. Henryson a motive.”

Nico groaned. “That's just it. I have no idea why anyone would send a picture to teachers. It doesn't make any sense. What were they trying to gain from that?”

“Amusement?”

Nico shook his head. “If it is Mr. Henryson who did it, then he wouldn't take such a huge risk just for fun. He would have a plan. I just don't know what that would be.”

It does seem like a stupid move. Who would send that picture at the risk of being locked up in a cell for the rest of their lives? From what Will knew, Mr. Henryson wouldn't.

“It could be someone else. Someone who is that stupid.”

The one minute bell rang, and Nico sighed. “Maybe. Maybe I'm overthinking things because of what happened with Mr. Shu, and I don't want to be caught off guard again.”

Nico grabbed the piece of paper off the desks and stuffed it into his backpack with a worried look. Will wanted to go upstairs and yell at Mr. Shu for worrying Nico like this, but that would probably make things worse.

“We don't really have much to work with. The picture was sent out more than a month ago. And Mr. Shu’s comment happened after winter break. If whoever sent it is planning something, then we'll just have to wait and see what happens next. If we're lucky that will be nothing concerning you.”

The bell rang again and their teacher started taking attendance while Will opened up his notebook.

“You're right. I need more information. For right now, I should just be careful.”

Will nodded and wrote down the date on his piece of paper. January 24.

Oh no.

“You know what you should focus on instead?” Will pressed.

Nico tilted his head. “What?”

“Your birthday. It's in four days. You'll be 16.”

Nico stared at him intensely before turning to the whiteboard. His eyes widened as he looked down at his notebook.

“It's the 24th. Already? How?”

“Time flies.”

“Wow. I mean, I knew the date. I guess it just didn't register.”

Will quietly laughed. “Exactly. Focus on that. Focus on your birthday. Happy thoughts.”

And Will should probably start focusing on it too since he promised to get Nico the best present ever, and he currently had no ideas. But he had four days. He'll figure it out. No problem.

  


“Valerie,” Will whined. “You're Nico's best friend. Tell me what to get him for his birthday.”

After Will had met Valerie at Nico's house during winter break, the two of them stayed in touch, and Will liked to think that they were friends.

“I don't know. He likes sentimental stuff.”

Will groaned. “That doesn't help. I made him a playlist and a happy jar for Christmas.”

“A happy jar?”

“I put slips of paper with inspiration quotes and cool facts in a jar. So he can read them when he's feeling down.”

Valerie hummed. “That is actually a good idea.”

“Yeah. It was. But I can't do it again. So that means I need other ideas. So I thought I would buy something space related. Something cool. But I can't really find anything that would be cool and in my price range. So then I thought about cooking stuff. But what cooking stuff would I buy? A frying pan? That's just lame. So then I started thinking of generic presents but all those are lame too!”

Will collapsed on to his bed and groaned. Nico's birthday was in two days, and his brain was empty. He had failed.

“Do you remember Nico ever telling you about anything he wants? Maybe something only you can give.”

“I don't know.”

“Think really hard.”

“What do you think I've been doing for the past two days?”

“Right. Well, umm...if you can't think of anything you can always just buy him a hoodie.”

Will sat up on his bed and started looking around. “A hoodie?”

“He likes them. It's a safe option. Just find a cool one on Amazon or something.”

“Maybe.”

Will’s eyes landed on his guitar.

_“I haven't heard you play after that time in the music shop.”_

_“I'll play it for you again.”_

_“That would be nice.”_

That was it.

“Just walk around the mall and see if anything catches your eye,” Valerie suggested.

Will stood up and walked over to his guitar. He only had two days, but this could work.

“I'll see. I'll tell you if I find something. Thanks for the help.”

“No problem. Good luck!”

Valerie hung up the phone, and Will set his down on his desk.

He had two days. He needed the luck.

  


After school on Monday, Will led Nico to his house. On the way there, Nico told him that his dad promised to make a cake for his birthday and decorate it. Any other day, Will would laugh at the image of Nico’s dad decorating a cake, but today, he had other things of his mind. Other things like Nico’s present. At least he bought a backup gift in case things went wrong.

Will led Nico into his house and upstairs towards his room. He did minimal cleaning the day before, but he hoped it was enough for it to not look like a mess.

As soon as they stepped in, Nico began to look around his room in awe. Will sent him a questioning look.

“I’ve never seen your room before,” Nico explained tapping the head of a little bird toy.

“You haven’t?”

Will tried to think back, but he couldn’t remember Nico coming over at any point other than the mess of a dinner that happened a few months back. Huh? Maybe Will should invite Nico over more often.

“Well, I hope you aren’t disappointed,” Will added.

His room was pretty minimalist in design with light blue painted walls and wood floors. There was a bed tucked in the corner and a desk next to it with school supplies neatly stacked on top of it. On the other side there was a bookshelf with books and various knick knacks that Will had collected and couldn’t bear to give up.

And sitting next to it, in the space between the shelf and the closet, was the object he needed.

“It’s nice,” Nico commented tapping the wobbling bird toy again.

Will dropped his backpack onto the ground next to his desk, and grabbed the gift and shoved it into Nico’s arms. In Nico’s surprise, he almost dropped the box, but he caught it before it hit the ground and let out a snort.

“Happy birthday,” Will announced.

Nico looked down at the box in his hands. “You didn’t have to get me something.”

“It's your birthday. Of course I did. Don't know if it's any good though.”

Nico looked up at his with a smile. “I'm sure it's great.”

Alright Will. This is your last chance to back out.

“I uhh... actually have something else too,” Will stammered.

Nico tilted his head. “Seriously? You didn't need to get me this much. I'd be happy with a bag of lollipops.”

“I know. But I want to. And this second gift isn't exactly physical.”

“Oh? What is it?”

Will guided Nico to his bed and instructed him to sit down and close his eyes.

“Is this necessary?” Nico asked.

No. But it would definitely make things easier for Will.

“Just trust me.”

Nico rolled his eyes before closing them.

“Now just stay like that.”

Nico nodded, and Will went to go pick up his guitar and sit on the other side of the bed as quietly as possible. He had tuned his guitar before leaving, so it would hopefully be fine. It had only been a few hours. The universe didn't hate him that much did it?

Well, it assigned Nico as his soulmate, so maybe it wasn't all that bad.

“You ready?” Will asked.

But who was he asking? Nico or himself?

“Yep!” Nico announced.

Will took in a deep breath before positioning his hands. “Alright.”

He plucked the first cord and launched into the song. It was a song his mom used to sing to him a lot when he was younger. It had a soft beat and a slow pace, so it didn't need too much vocal talent to sound good enough to not hurt your ears.

 

_“And just like them old stars_   
_I see that you've come so far_ _  
_ To be right where you are”

 

Now that Will was actually singing the song with Nico right behind him, he was finally processing the words. This song sounded a lot less romantic in his head. Maybe because his mom sang it.

He should have noticed this beforehand. He should have picked a different song.

No Will. Calm down. You can just explain yourself afterwards. It's okay. It's okay. Just finish the song.

 

_“Cause even the stars they burn_   
_Some even fall to the earth_ _  
_ We've got a lot to learn”

 

Will wondered what Nico was thinking. Maybe Will should have sat down next to him to see his expression.

But he knew if he did that he would mess up. He would be too focused on studying Nico's face and sing the wrong lyric or play the wrong chord.

Maybe one day he would be brave enough, but that day was not today. Today he needed to focus on what he was playing now. He needed to focus on getting to the end.

He would be able to ask Nico what he thought about it afterwards.

 

_“I won't give up on us_ _  
_ _Even if the skies get rough”_

 

And he did it. He made it to the end. Will played the last chord and froze. That was it. He finished.

He set the guitar to lean against his bed and looked up at the ceiling. The two of them stayed silent for a while before Will got the courage to say something.

“How was that?” He asked.

Nico didn't respond for a few moments, and Will started to mentally prepare himself for what Nico would respond. Did he hate it? Is that why he wasn't saying anything? Was he trying to figure out a nice way to say that it was terrible?

“Thank you,” Nico whispered.

Will opened his mouth to explain himself, but the words finally processed in Will's brain and he stopped. Thank you?

“Happy birthday,” Will responded not being sure what else to say.

“You said you would get me the best present ever and you did. I wish I had recorded it. It was pretty? Soothing? I don't know how to describe it.”

Will’s tensed up muscles began to relax and a smile came to his face. Nico liked it.

“My mom used to sing that to me when I was younger. I wanted you to hear it.”

“Thank you for letting me listen.”

“Of course.”

Will let out a sigh of relief. That went well. Just like he wanted. He still felt like he wanted to scream and curl up into a ball, but a happy, relieved feeling was now getting mixed up with it and fighting for dominance.

“Can I open my eyes now?” Nico asked.

Will’s eyes widened. “You still have them shut?”

“You told me to keep them closed.”

“I thought you would open them once I was done. I'm sorry!”

Nico laughed and Will could tell him get up from the bed. He circled around it and sat down next to him.

“I can see you,” Nico joked.

“Congrats.”

Nico smiled and looked away from him towards the window. Once he did, his eyes lighted up, and he pointed towards it.

“It's snowing. Look!”

Will looked up towards the window, and sure enough, white flakes of snow were falling from the sky.

“The weatherman said it wasn't supposed to start snowing until 9.”

“Well, weatherman was wrong,” Nico cheered.

“I thought you hated the cold.”

Nico shrugged. “I do. But snow looks nice. The cold part sucks, but I like snow.”

“Well, happy birthday to you from the weather gods. Enjoy.”

“It’s been a good birthday. Maybe the universe is paying me back for last year.”

Will stayed silent. How was he supposed to respond to that? Probably? Maybe? You deserve it?

Will turned his gaze away from the window and towards the person sitting next to him. Nico's eyes were still staring at the window, and behind his glasses it looked like there were stars sparkling in them. He had taken off his beanie at some point at and now his hair was poking out in some places while in others it was entirely flat.

And Will wanted to kiss him again. But this time the rational part of Will's brain was working and telling him that doing so would be a terrible idea. Maybe last time it flew because Nico was half asleep, but it wouldn't work this time. This time Nico would push him away and start avoiding him. And he didn't want that to happen.

Maybe there was a small chance that Nico wouldn't mind or maybe he was thinking the same thing, but Will wasn't going to risk it.

_“If you never take a risk, if you always worry about what could go wrong, you're never going to get anywhere.”_

Shut up Lou Ellen.

Will looked down, and his eyes landed on Nico's hand resting on the bed while his other was holding the gift box in place on his lap. Will thought for a moment before his brain screamed, “fuck it!”, and he grabbed Nico's hand with his own.

Nico quickly turned towards him, and his eyes locked on to their now adjoined hands.

“This okay?” Will asked gently.

Nico stared for a few moments before quickly nodding and turning away. Most of his face was no longer visible, but Will could still see Nico's face becoming red and a small smile spreading across his face.

Ha! Take that Lou Ellen!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will got his permit. Yay!   
> And Nico's done with detention, but his mind is still stuck on trying to figure out who sent the picture. Someone just plain stupid? Or is something being planned? And is it really Mr. Henryson?   
> (And my list messed up on Ao3 when I copied in from Google Docs. I tried to fix it but it wasn't doing what I wanted. I hope it still looks alright.) 
> 
> Also Nico's birthday.   
> The song Will sings is called 'I Won't Give Up' by Jason Mraz   
> Here's a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cNhpIzUreI  
> I was listening to the nightcore version of it for the chapter though   
> Here's a link to that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chLXNgEexcE
> 
> And I am finally done with the semester. Now I get like a month of winter break. Hopefully I'll be able to post a few chapter during this month!
> 
> Happy Holidays to those of you who celebrate anything this time of year!!! I hope you all have/had a great holiday! 
> 
> Thank you all for reading! I hope you enjoyed!   
> Please leave comments and/or kudos if you did!   
> Thank you to those of you who left comments last chapter!!! I love reading them!!!   
> I hope you all have a great day/night wherever you are! ^_^


	21. Cold

Will almost let out a sigh of relief when he was able to see the front doors of the school. Why was it so cold in February? It was supposed to start getting warmer not colder. He should buy a scarf. He was going to get sick at this rate. 

Maybe February was going to be cold this year. Maybe that's why it barely snowed so far. February was going to attack and bring all of the cold air and snowfall. 

Will quickly pulled open the door and stepped inside before sticking his hands back into his pockets and shivering the cold out of him. The heating system was luckily working properly, and he could feel it hitting against his face. 

He just needed to walk around in the warm building and he’d be okay. 

He looked towards the clock hanging over the main office. 7:57. That gave him about ten minutes. And then PE. Second to last PE class. Woohoo. 

“Will? You okay?” 

Will turned to his left. Nico was standing there with a half smile pulling his hat off.

“Just cold,” Will answered. 

“Did you walk all the way here in the cold like that?” Nico asked gesturing to his whole self. 

Will looked down at himself. Sure he didn’t have a scarf...or a hat. But he zipped up his jacket all the way to the top and pulled his hood up. And maybe he lost his gloves, but his hands were in his pockets, so it was fine. 

(It was not fine.) 

Maybe he needed to go buy new winter gear. And maybe that’s why he felt colder today than usual. Stupid missing gloves. 

“I made a mistake,” Will admitted. “I’ll get new gloves though.” 

Someday. 

“Dumbass,” Nico chided as he took off his own gloves. “Here. Wear mine. They should warm your hands up.” 

Will quickly shook his head. “I’m fine. Don’t worry.” 

Nico frowned and grabbed his right hand. “You’re freezing. You need to warm up or you’ll get sick.” 

“That’s why there’s heating,” Will responded waving his hand around the hall and walking past him. 

Nico grumbled something under his breathe and followed after him shoving his gloves into his pocket. Will turned the opposite direction from where the gym was. He wanted to warm up a bit before having to sit in the cold gym. Nico followed him without asking any questions. 

“Leo and Reyna kidnapped me this weekend and took to this animal shelter,”  Nico started as Will began to rub his hands together to warm them up. “And there was this tiny black puppy, and she was so cute. And so fluffy. And there was this one cat who kept jumping everywhere. And another cat…” 

Will looked over. Nico’s eyes sparkled as he talked about a blue eyed cat that kept jumping over things, and his hands flew, jumping around like the cat did. Will watched as smile spread across his own face. 

“And there was this this fluffy white cat named Buford that really liked Leo. He just on his head the whole time. Leo accidentally almost brought him home and noticed halfway there. He freaked out.” 

Will laughed at the image of Leo driving home and suddenly noticing the cat on his head. He turned back forward and blew into his hands as Nico continued talking. As Will looked back up, he noticed a group of people in front of them sending odd looks in their direction. 

He locked eyes with one of them, and they immediately turned away. Will gave them a confused look as they whispered something to each other and pointed towards them. Did he do something wrong? 

His attention got pulled away from them when Nico grabbed his hand. 

“They're still cold,” he muttered. 

“They'll warm up before the end of PE.” 

Nico frowned but didn't say anything. He didn't let go of Will's hand either. He just continued on with telling Will about the different animals he saw. Will looked down at their linked hands and smiled. 

He was very happy that he had lost his gloves. 

  
  


Last week of gym. 

Coach Hedge decided to spend the last two days having everyone do stations. Different exercise equipment was spread across the gym and groups of three were sent to different equipment. Each group then spent five minutes where they were before moving on to the next exercise. 

Sherman challenged Nico to something every station while Will watched as he calmly did his own exercises. Nico might act like he didn’t care at all, but Will could clearly see the determination in his eyes every time Sherman challenged him to anything. It was entertaining for him, so he wasn’t about to complain. And it wasn’t like anyone was getting hurt. 

Or at least no one was getting hurt until Sherman accidentally knocked Nico’s glasses off his face while jump roping. 

Will let go of his jump rope and rushed over to him. Nico picked up his glasses to find the left lens had cracked and snapped out. 

“This is broken,” Nico observed. 

“Shit. I’m sorry. I can fix it,” Sherman apologize quickly. 

“You can?” Will asked. 

Sherman bent down and stared at the broken lense. “Umm...actually no.” 

Nico let out a laugh and snapped the lense back into the frame. “It’s fine. I have an extra in my backpack.” He stood up. “I’ll give these to Coach Hedge to hold onto until class is over.” 

Will stopped him with a hand on the shoulder. “Are you sure you’re not hurt?”

“It hurt for a second. I’m okay now.” 

Will nodded and let him go. Sherman picked up their jump ropes from the ground and walked over to the box to put them all back. The five minutes were almost over. 

While Sherman threw the jump ropes into the box, a boy came over and whispered something to him with a smirk on his face. Will couldn't hear what he was saying, but, from the look on Sherman's face, Will guessed that it wasn't anything good. 

“How about you mind your own fucking business and not be a judgemental asshole,” Sherman hissed. 

Yeah. Not anything good. 

Sherman looked like he wanted to beat the guy up. Luckily the buzzer sounded off, and Nico came back before any fists were flying. 

“Remind me to get my glasses back before we leave,” Nico told Will. 

“If I remember.” 

From the corner of his eye, he could see both Sherman and the other guy look towards Nico. The guy raised an eyebrow, and Sherman sent him a glare. The guy rolled his eyes in response and turned around as Sherman crossed his arms and followed after him to the next station. 

“That's why I'm telling you. To remember,” Nico teased. 

Will shrugged and followed after Sherman to the next station. 

“I'll try.” 

  
  


Will did not try hard enough. He forgot. 

But Nico and Sherman both remembered so no harm done.

And Will had his mind on other things, so you couldn't really blame him for forgetting. Trying to figure out why Sherman and the other guy kept glaring at each other was much more interesting. 

And well… Will didn't really like getting into other people's business, but the concerned looks that Sherman made whenever he looked at Nico made him decide that this was maybe a little bit his business. 

Will had planned to ask Sherman what was going on, but he left before Will could. 

During Math class, a few more people sent strange looks in their direction, and Will was sure it wasn't because Nico was wearing different glasses. They probably didn't even notice that they were different since they looked exactly the same. 

They had just sat down for Chemistry class when Cecil texted him. 

 

**11:18**

**Do you know?**

 

Cryptic? Coming from Cecil that could mean almost anything. 

 

**11:19**

**Know what?**

**Did you get results back for the photography competition you entered?**

 

**11:19**

**No**

**Those come back next week**

 

**11:20**

**Then what?**

 

**11:21**

**I'll tell you at lunch**

 

**11:21**

**…**

**Umm...okay**

 

Strange. 

Will looked towards Nico flipping through his Chem notebook. 

 

**11:22**

**Does it have anything with people giving Nico weird looks today?**

 

**11:23**

**...Yes**

 

Oh. 

So there was a reason. He wasn't just going crazy. 

He didn't know whether to be relieved or terrified. 

  
  


Nico parted with him before lunch. He apparently had to go to his culinary class for something. Will didn’t entirely understand his explanation. Or maybe he wasn't paying attention. Doesn't matter. 

Will made his way to the table he usually sat at for lunch. When he got close, he was able to see Cecil throwing celery pieces at Lou Ellen while she tried to catch them with the empty plastic carton that held them. 

As he sat down next to Lou Ellen, a piece of celery came flying towards him. Lou Ellen quickly moved and caught it with the dish in her hand. She cheered and threw the vegetable back at Cecil who frowned as it hit his forehead and landed in his lap. 

Lou Ellen set the dish back on Cecil’s lunch tray and picked up her own lunch. 

“So how was your day Will?” Lou Ellen asked taking a bite of her rice. 

“Fine,” he answered. He turned towards Cecil. “Didn’t you say you had something to tell me?” 

Cecil froze for a second before slowly munching on the celery. “Eat first.” 

“Or maybe he shouldn’t. Knowing him, he’s just going to throw up,” Lou Ellen whispered. 

Will frowned. What were they trying to hide from him? It was clearly important enough for Cecil to be acting so serious, but why was he trying to hide it now? 

“What is going on?!”

“Nothing good,” Lou Ellen mumbled. 

“Where’s Nico?” Cecil asked looking around. 

Don't change the topic. 

“Went to his culinary class. What’s going on?” 

Cecil sighed and pulled out his phone. Lou Ellen turned back to her lunch and started playing around with it. Cecil scowled at his screen and slammed his phone on the table with so much force, Will was scared that it had cracked. 

At the same moment, Will felt a short vibration. He pulled out his own phone to find that Cecil had texted him. 

He raised an eyebrow, and Cecil angrily bit into a carrot. 

“Easier to show you,” Cecil explained. 

“It’ll ruin your appetite,” Lou Ellen warned. 

That was in no way concerning. 

Will looked down at his phone, and opened the message from Cecil. The only thing in the message was a link...to an instagram account? What did that have to do with anything? 

Will was about to press it when Lou Ellen grabbed his hand. 

“Maybe you shouldn’t,” she suggested with a nervous laugh. “You don’t want to see it.” 

Will looked from her to his phone and back. “What is it?” 

“It’s not important. Better if you don’t know.” 

That just made him want to know what was so special about this account even more. Will turned to Cecil who was staring at them with an intense expression. They locked eyes and he sighed. He gently grabbed Lou Ellen’s hand and pulled it into her lap. 

“He’s going to find out somehow sooner or later. It’s better if he does when we’re around and not entirely unexpectedly.” 

Lou Ellen stared at Will’s phone and scowled. “Open it.” 

Will looked back at his phone and tapped the link before he had second thoughts. The faster he figured out what was going on, the faster he wouldn’t have to worry about what it was. 

The app opened on his phone and slowly loaded on the school’s wifi. He turned the wifi off and switched to data. 

He wanted to get over with this as soon as possible. 

The account opened and it looked like there were only two pictures on the account. Why were two pictures causing so much drama? 

He tapped on one of the pictures to get a better look. The image loaded up and Will had to exit out and go back to make sure he wasn’t going crazy and imagining things. Or maybe he hoped he was  just imagining things. 

But when the image opened again, Will could no longer deny that what he thought was there, really was there. 

There was no denying that it was Nico in the picture. From the looks of it he was curled up sleeping. And that in itself was strange enough, but the bruises and cuts definitely made it all worse. Topped with the the chains around his wrists and how he was sleeping on a hard floor, Will could clearly tell where this image was from. 

Will shut his phone off and got up before looking at the second one. 

“Will?” Cecil said grabbing his attention. 

Will turned to him with a glare. Cecil flinched, and Will sighed. 

“Sorry,” Will apologized. 

“It's fine.” 

Will nodded and looked at the clock. There were still ten minutes of lunch left. 

“I'm going to go find Nico.” 

Lou Ellen opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but she quickly closed it. 

“Don't get caught by the hall devil,” Cecil joked. No one laughed. 

Will picked up his backpack from the ground and made his way to the right side doors. The teacher in charge of making sure everyone stayed in the cafeteria was standing near the left doors like usual, and Will was able to quickly leave the cafeteria and climb the nearby stairs down towards the gym. 

He walked past it and made his way to the hallway behind and trekked to the general area of where he remembered the culinary classroom was. 

When he got there, he found Nico sitting at a table eating a pink cookie. The table had other foods also scattered on it along with the row of cookies spanning from cupcakes and dessert food to entire sandwiches. 

“Hey,” Will greeted as happily as he could. 

Nico didn't give him any strange looks, so he assumed he did well enough. 

“Hey. What are you doing here?” 

Will shrugged. What was he supposed to tell him? ‘During lunch, Cecil sent me a link to an account that has  less than flattering images of you, and I'm pretty sure half of the people at school have seen it, so I came to make sure you were okay.’ 

That wouldn't end well. 

Just the thought of the image was filing Will with so much rage he wanted to punch something. He needed to calm down. 

“What are you doing?” Will asked. 

“I told you,” Nico whined. “I have to sit here and sell food. And then we'll make some money to buy the things we need for class since the school doesn't give us enough.” He patted a silver box sitting next to him on the table. “I made 40 bucks.” 

Will looked at the array of food. “Wouldn't you make more money if you sold the food in the cafeteria?” 

“Yes. But according to the rules you can not sell food for profit in the cafeteria during lunch. You have to sell it in a different location or after school. If we were allowed to sell this in the cafeteria, then no one would buy the disgusting lunch food. And then the school wouldn't make money.” 

Will snorted. 

“Lou Ellen or Cecil say anything interesting?” 

Will's attention snapped away from the table of food back to why he had come all the way here to begin with. The damned, stupid picture. 

He should tell him. Maybe he would take it better if he heard it from Will instead of Ms. Lowen or another student. He would find out eventually one way or another. Will shouldn’t hold it off until it explodes in his face. Like his fear of cars did. 

“Umm...they showed me something,” Will started. 

“Oh? What?” Nico prompted picking up a cookie. “Do you want a cookie?” 

“Umm...I’m not hungry. Cecil…” 

Nico cut him off before he could continue. “You...you’re not hungry? Are you sick? Is something wrong? Are you really Will?” 

“I’m fine,” Will answered quickly. “I need to show you something.” 

Nico’s smile faded and his eyes instead sparked with concern. “What?” 

Will pulled out his phone just as the bell rang for the end of the lunch period. Nico stood up and started storing the food in boxes. Will helped him and brought the food back into the classroom along with the money box. 

How was he supposed to explain this? Did he just show him the picture and see what Nico’s response would be? Or would that be too fast and make him freak out more? Should he ease him into it? Or would that scare him more? Maybe he should just send the account to him after he got home. It probably wasn’t the best idea to tell him in the middle of the school day. He should wait until the end. 

No one has said anything yet. Why would they randomly say something now?

Because that’s exactly what’s going to happen. That’s what always happens. It hasn’t happened, so of course it was going to happen now. He jinxed it. It was over. 

He should just tell Nico right now and make him go home. That would be the best. 

“So what did you need to show me?” Nico asked with the same look of concern. 

“I…umm...” 

Come on Will. Just tell him before he finds out some other way that will very obviously end in disaster. 

“You don’t have to tell me now if you don’t want to. Don’t force yourself,” Nico told him gently. 

“No. No. I need to tell you now. I just don’t know how.” 

Nico hummed. “Is it bad?” 

Will nodded. 

“Something to do with Cecil?” 

“Kinda.” 

“Have anything to do with why people have been giving me strange looks all day?” 

Will’s eyes widened. “You...you noticed that?” 

“I may wear glasses, but I am not blind. I figured I’d find out eventually. I woke up in a good mood. No nightmares. Made pancakes for breakfast. Actually felt like I had the energy to do things. I didn’t want to ruin it.” Nico frowned. “This is going to ruin my mood isn’t it?” 

“Definitely.” 

And now Will really didn’t want to tell him. Wonderful. 

“If it can wait, you can tell me later.” 

“It...I…” 

Nico took his hand and pulled him through the hall. “Come on. We’re going to be late. You can tell me after Chemistry. Your head will probably be clearer then.” 

That...that sounded like a good plan. Yeah. Nothing would happen during Chemistry class, so he would get an hour to clear his thoughts and come up with a way to do this. 

  
  


He had an hour, and he still had no idea how he was supposed to do this. 

Why was he tasked with doing this again? Oh right. He tasked himself with him. Or maybe the universe tasked him with it by being Nico’s friend and soulmate. Thanks universe. Stupid thing. 

“You clear your head?” Nico asked as they walked out of class. 

Paolo stopped for a second and patted Nico on the head and gave him a bar of chocolate before leaving. Nico stared down at the chocolate and waved it in Will’s face. 

“What happened?” 

“Well…”

The hallway was loud, and there were too many people walking by. 

“Somewhere more quiet,” Will decided.

Nico nodded, and the two of them climbed down the nearby stairs and turned to stand in the small section of space behind them. No one could see or hear them unless they tried. 

“So?” Nico prompted. 

“So during lunch…” Will started...before he was quickly interrupted by a teacher. 

“What are you two doing here?” He shouted. “Get to class!” 

Nico flinched and nodded his head. The teacher walked away with a scowl, and Nico glared at his retreating form. 

“How about we wait until school is over?” Nico suggested. “Then we won't have annoying teachers and loud bells interrupting us.” 

Will wanted to argue and be done with it, but...what would happen in an art class? Nico should be fine until the school day was over. No problem.

“Sure.” 

Nico smiled. “I'll see you later then.” 

  
  


Will was tapping his pen on his notebook while Ms. B talked about something in French. He preferred the teacher who never came to class over the one who expected them to be fluent even though they were only in French 2. It was easier for him. 

Twenty minutes into class, Will felt his phone vibrate. Ms. B was writing something on the board, so he quickly pulled out his phone to check what it was. 

A message from Cecil. Probably some meme. 

Will turned to his notebook that featured five French words and a doodle of him holding a sign that said 'help’. 

He turned to the clock. Still more than an hour left until school ended. Will wasn't sure whether he wanted the school day to end faster or for it to never end at all. On one hand, the faster he told Nico, the less chances that something terrible would happen. On the other hand, once the school day ended, he had to tell him. And Will did not want to. 

Maybe he could convince Cecil to tell him instead. 

His phone buzzed on his lap. Cecil again. Two memes. Must be a good day. 

His phone buzzed again. Three? 

Ms. B was still talking in French...or at least Will thought it was French, and turned towards the board. 

He turned on his phone as secretly as possible and opened his chat with Cecil. He was not met with memes. 

 

**1:37**

**I thought you were going to tell him!**

**Some dude confronted him in the hall**

**Nico threw the asshole's phone and ran off**

 

His phone buzzed again. 

 

**1:38**

**Idk where he is now**

 

Oh no. Oh no. 

This was bad. This was really bad. Stupid Will. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. 

He rose his hand in the air and called out to the teacher. 

She turned towards him. “Oui?” 

“May I go to the bathroom?” Will asked. 

“If you can say it in French.” 

Oh come on. He did not have time for this. 

“Je peux aller à la toilet?” 

“Oui.” 

Ugh. 

Will grabbed his planner from his backpack and made his way over so she could sign a hall pass. She quickly filled in her signature and the date, and Will marched his way out of the classroom. 

Alright Will. If you were Nico, and you were upset, then where would you go? 

Somewhere he could be alone and not have to worry about people finding him. Quiet. 

Will had an idea on where he could be. 

He walked down the stairs and made his way to the gym keeping a constant eye out for any teachers roaming the halls. He walked past the gym to the hallway running on the other side past the forensic and culinary rooms. Past the car maintenance classroom and design classes. Past the small animal hospital (after he waved at the dogs sitting inside). And at the end of the hallways, he made it to the bathrooms. 

These bathroom were in the most secluded part of the school, and no one used them unless they were desperate, doing drugs, or having sex. And hopefully if someone wanted to hide away from everyone but didn't want to trek in the cold wilderness outside. 

Will slowly walked in and almost sighed in relief when he found Nico curled up at the end of the rows of sinks under the small window. He quietly walked over to him and crouched down an arm’s length away. 

Will looked Nico over, and his eyes locked on to his bruised knuckles. Did he get in a fight? Cecil only said that he threw someone's phone. But Cecil wasn't there, so maybe he didn't have all the details. 

“Nico?” Will whispered trying not to scare him. 

Nico didn't indicate that he heard him at all, so Will repeated himself a bit louder. 

This time Nico shifted his arms tighter around himself in response. 

“Neeks. Come on.” 

Nico slightly lifted his head. It was enough for Will to tell that he was listening but not enough to see his face. 

“Is that what you were trying to tell me?” Nico rasped. 

That wasn't what he was supposed to sound like. That wasn't how he sounded half an hour ago. He was happy half an hour ago! 

“Yeah,” Will admitted. 

He should have told him. He shouldn't have been such a coward and tried to find some nonexistent best way to say it. This outcome was definitely not better than anything he could have tried. 

Nico lifted his head up and Will could feel more raw guilt swirling in his stomach and clenching his heart.

He looked terrible. His eyes were red and puffed up. Tear were still clearly visible on his face and he could see more tears building up in his eyes. His bottom lip was raw with what was probably Nico gnawing at it. His bangs were wet and haphazardly strewn around at random angles and stuck to his forehead. 

But what was worst of all was the darkness in his eyes and the anger and sadness he could clearly see swirling around in them. The sparkles of excitement from that morning and crinkles from laughing were gone. His glasses nowhere in sight making the view even easier to see. 

“And you didn't tell me because?” Nico hissed. “I feel like this would be something important that you should have told me as soon as you found out.” 

Will winced at Nico's tone. But he couldn't blame him. Will should have told him sooner. He shouldn't have had to find out from some stupid jerks in the hallway on his way to class. 

“I...I was trying. But I didn't know how to say it,” Will tried to explain. “But I should have told you. I was planning to, but I didn't. And I should have. I'm sorry.” 

Nico glared at him for a few more seconds before hanging his head down. 

Will let out a sigh and stayed silent. What was he even supposed to say. Everything will be okay? He didn't know that. Nico knew that he didn't know that. That wouldn't help anything. 

Will couldn't fix this with just empty words and promises. He didn't know how to fix this. He wasn't a police officer or a detective. He didn't know how to find the person who posted the pictures and arrest them. He didn't have a memory eraser machine. He couldn't magically make everyone in this school forget that those picture existed. 

All Will could do was be there. 

Will didn't know how long the two of them just sat there thinking. 

“I'm sorry,” Nico whispered. 

“Sorry for?” 

“Being mad at you. You weren't trying to hurt me.” 

“But I still did. You're allowed to be mad. I should have told you.” 

Nico laughed bitterly. “It probably wouldn't have changed much.” 

Will stayed silent. How was he supposed to respond to that?

Nico sighed, and Will's focus went back towards him. His eyes landed on his hand and he slowly scooted forward. He gently picked up Nico's right hand a brushed his thumb across his knuckle. 

“How did this happen?” 

“I punched a wall...multiple times.” 

“Nico…” 

“I was angry,” Nico snapped. “Better a wall than a person.” 

Will sighed and didn't respond. Now was not the time to scold Nico on how he releases his anger. They could have that conversation when Nico's emotions were less of a jumbled mess. 

They stayed in that position until the bell rang. The two of them stood up and washed their hands before leaving the bathroom without a word. They made it to the front when Will said bye. He still needed to get his backpack from French. Maybe if he was lucky Ms. B wouldn't be there and the door would be unlocked. 

But before Will could start making his way to his French class, Nico grabbed his arm and stopped him. 

“Where are you going?” 

“I need to get my backpack.” 

Nico looked him over. “Oh. I'll go with you.” 

Odd. But Will wasn't going to argue. It would probably take longer to argue than it would to get his bag. 

They walked upstairs to the foreign language hallway and made their way to his French classroom. Ms. B was still sitting in the spinny chair, scrolling through her laptop. Damn it. 

Will let out a sigh and walked inside. 

Ms. B looked up at him and frowned. “And where have you been?” 

“Bathroom?” 

He wasn't lying. He was in the bathroom. 

Ms. B didn't look like she bought it though. “For an hour?” 

Will laughed nervously. He was screwed. 

Nico walked into the classroom and picked up Will's backpack and notebook before handing it to him. 

“He  _ was _ in the bathroom.” 

Ms. B still looked dubious, but now her eyes were locked on Nico and her expression was quickly morphing into concern. She stood up and rushed over to stand in front of him. 

“You've been crying. What's wrong?” 

Nico scowled. “I'm fine.” 

“Are you sure?” 

Nico looked like he was about to start an argument, but the fire immediately disappeared from his eyes. “I'm just tired,” he whispered. 

Ms. B looked like she wanted to continue the discussion further, but she nodded and waved for them to go. 

“I hope you feel better.” 

Nico nodded and practically pushed Will out of the room. 

Once they were down the hall, Will finally put his planner and notebook in his backpack and swung it over his shoulder. 

“Thanks. I thought I was toast.” 

Nico shrugged. “You almost got in trouble because of me.” 

“And even if I did get in trouble, I wouldn't regret it.” 

Nico gave him a side glance that Will couldn't read. 

They both made it outside, and Nico offered to give him a ride home, but Will declined. It might have been selfish, but he couldn't bring himself to be near Nico anymore today. He had no idea what he was doing. Jason had better chances of being helpful if Will wasn't there. And his failed attempts just made Will feel even worse. 

Will might be Nico's soulmate, but he was entirely useless right now. 

They said goodbye and Will started his trek home. He didn't even notice how cold it was this time. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh no. Now the whole schools knows. 
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Thank you for reading!   
> If you enjoyed please leave a comment and/or kudos!   
> I love reading comments! Thank you to all of you who left a comment last chapter!   
> I hope you all have a great day/night where ever you are.   
> Happy late New Years!!!


End file.
